My Life

Trudy the Lawyer

Those that know me, who may have read my old pages, or even this blog, have heard me mention Trudy. I met her professionally, and we became one another’s confidants. I watched her grow, become a better attorney, get better clients, open her own office, and become more successful. Bravo girlfriend!

When I met Trudy she was a bit of a mess. She had some issues (don’t we all!), and some of these issues are why I was attracted to her. She had acne scarred skin, which she covered with great gobs of foundation, so much that one could smell it! I loved it of course. She also had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which manifested itself in many ways. One was constantly checking her makeup, and usually reapplying some. By constantly I mean every 5 minutes, every red light, pulling over on the highway when driving etc. She also changed her underwear constantly, and always carried a large bag with panties, bra and hose. I how more perfect could a gal be?

But Trudy is a strong woman, and she started to work on herself. I like to think I helped as well. She had laser treatment for the acne scars, which left her with almost perfect skin. She had some plastic surgery on her face as well, and had her boobs done. At my urging she traded in her Brooks Brothers suits for more upscale fashionable suits, I once spent 3 hours with her in Bloomingdales. And I introduced to both outlet shopping and how to buy stuff on sale. I even convinced her to dye her hair red. She then dealt with her OCD, which to me was too bad as I kind of liked seeing the powder and lipstick come out every 5 minutes.

I don’t want you to think I was her Henry or Henrietta Higgins, this was her making her choices, but asking for advice as well. When passed over for partner at her firm, she opened her own office. Unfortunately, we lost touch, as the stain of opening her own office was considerable, and as I said earlier, I have my own issues to deal with. A lot of this had to do with her growing and moving on. She started dating a man that she liked quite a bit. But some of it was me as well.

This afternoon I ran into her, and we stopped for coffee. She looks amazing, and from my own perspective I was happy to see she still piled on the makeup. Her office is doing well, she’s hired associates. She’s not dating anyone, but baby steps are better than no steps at all. She reminded me that the suit she wore came from one of our shopping trips! Only once did she check the makeup, and I couldn’t help but compliment her. She smiled and said she was working on it, but opened her oversize bag to show me her fresh underwear!

One of the things that Trudy could do that amazed me was put on blush and lipstick perfectly. I have been at this for many years. And sometimes when I look at pictures of myself I think “Your blush looks awful!”. She could do it without a mirror, the same with lipstick.

We agreed to meet again soon, but we won’t. I miss her, but I am happy for her as well.

Reflections

One of the cable networks is showing old “Alfred Hitchcock” TV shows every weeknight. They are fascinating to me for many reasons. First, he got some amazing actors to star in them. Last week a young Robert Redford was on. But I must say I love seeing the women. First of all, most of them seem to be blond and look a lot like Tippi Hedron, but that’s another story. There almost always seems to be some reason for them to be dressed to the nines in formal attire.

As much as I enjoy the show and the stories, I love looking at these women and wondering what they are wearing under their amazing dresses. I watch for every little detail. In one episode the female actress wore sling backs, and I could see the heel of her stockings. With tiny waists and pointy boobs and hosiery I imagine what kind of girdle they might be wearing. I think about how wonderful it must have been to get dressed in those days.

With 3000+ pictures on Flickr I am undoubtedly an attention slut. But when I look at my own pictures I always remember what slips or slips, longline bra, girdle and stockings I wore underneath just as I imagine what these women in old TV shows and movies are wearing.

Musings
I don’t see the attraction to Chelsea Handler. She is not all that clever, and I just don’t find her attractive……It has started here in the Boston Area already, the attack of the painfully white legs--who told women they look good without hosiery, and BTW it is still pretty cold here, so often they have a pink tinge as well….. Have you seen the new “Bettie Page” shops? There is one here that I will be exploring soon, and they are on line as well……I am thinking of trying Spanx…..sings

                                   This Week’s Why?
                                   Low Heeled Shoes

I don’t know, age maybe. I went through a number of shoe periods, 5 inch mules, platforms, the famous Fredericks of Hollywood black patent stilettos. I even got a pair of 6 inch heels with no platform at Lee Brewster’s in New York about a million years ago. But there were a couple of driving forces towards the lower heels. First, 5 inch heels didn’t always work with my outfits, and although I got incredibly proficient at walking in them, the sheer comfort of the lower heels made life a little easier. And although this is certainly not the case now, with the lower heels there was a lot more variety so there were more choices of styles to go with my outfits.

I remember being at a wedding with my friend Alice. It was a fall wedding on a beautiful New England day at the old Ritz here in Boston. We were at a table with a very elegant couple, the woman was in her 40’s or 50’s or had a lot of work done. She got up to use the ladies room and as she walked by I saw these black patent peep toe sling backs with little 2 inch heels, and the jet black heel of her RHT stockings was perfectly positioned. This was many years after nude heels came into to fashion, which made it all the more extraordinary. They were so perfect with her sequin dress even Alice said something nice about them and asked where they came from. I found those shoes, and despite the dent it put in my pocketbook, I had them myself within a week.

                                            Shopping

Never ever buy anything at full price! Occasionally I violate this rule, and I was fully prepared to do it recently. Well not really I had a 20% off coupon, but there are some Onyx Nite separates I like and I saw them being sold at a rate that they might never go on sale. So I went to Macy’s, hoping in one of their many “One Days Sales” the outfit might be marked down, but no luck. However when I went to pay the skirt was 40% off, but the top wasn’t. Hmm. “Shouldn’t they both be on sale?” I asked, and the clerk simply took the 40% off the twin set that went with the skirt, plus I got my 20% off. Amazing huh?










                                              Makeup

It is hard to beat Mac lipstick. My most recent purchase is a shocking pink called Candy YumYum. I needed this because between all my other lipsticks I only had about 30 pink shades. $15.00, great coverage, amazing colors, and if you play you cards right some overly made up 20 something might take care of you.