Jennie Smash

I suddenly realized that there’s absolutely nothing to stop me from dressing entirely in silk kimonos, or giant iridescent caftans with hula girls on them, or Victorian nightgowns. I didn’t really have a dress code at my old office, but now I really don’t. I can get a head start on becoming that awesome old woman I intend to become.

I thought of this because I was looking at all my clothes hanging up in the dressing room, which is what we call the tiny room next to our bedroom because we’re embarrassed to call it the Room Full of Boxes We’re Never Going to Unpack. Anyway, I was in this room, looking at my clothes, and I realized that I have a lot of really beautiful things in really beautiful colors. I have bright pink sweaters and grass-green dresses and a pair of tights with neon stars printed all over them.

I wore these things on my birthday or when it was probably going to be a particularly rough day at the salt mines. The rest of the time, I wore ten-dollar pants and old t-shirts and sometimes a cute, professional-ish dress or two.

I’ve spent the past two weeks hanging around the house in yoga pants, and I love them, but I think I might need to break out some of these fun clothes. It’s time for a new uniform.

Image: The Paris Review