Tie Dye Explosion and Golden Elephants

When I was in elementary school, I remember sporting an array of tie dyed tee shirts, a handful of which were passed down from my older sister, all of them swimmingly over-sized, nearly dipping down to my scuffed, scraped knees. Bright colors sublimating from shade to shade, those capricious and accidental fireworks, were so appealing: impulsive, impatient, impractical. These fun fabrics faded from memory and my closet, as they approached rag status and the entire look swung to the dated, period-costume end of the sartorial spectrum. Throughout middle and high school years, donning tie dye only occurred in proximity to Halloween, or daily, for that small but loyal contingent of Grateful Dead and Phish devotees. Truthfully, when I was younger, I did not have the confidence to wear tie dye, or to pair scarlet and purple, elegantly. So, when I spied this pencil skirt a number of months back, I was captivated, but it hung idle in my closet a little while. The pattern, the colors at once impassioned and subdued, reminds me of a more potent Impressionist painting, with shades more saturated; perhaps a landscape, a lawn of roses, drenched in blood and wine.

This elephant necklace has been in my repertoire since high school, always a popular item for comment and compliment by any and everyone. Random teachers, cashiers, passerby on the street. A gilded gold elephant makes a bombastic statement, offering a challenge to my loud pattern skirt.


Tuesday evening office soundtrack: Ancient Melodies of the Future Built to Spill