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Collected Item: “Gonna Dolly Myself Up”

Give your story a title.

Gonna Dolly Myself Up

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

text story

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

For the past year, I cycled in and out of a few uniforms. At the start of the pandemic, when the weather was warm, I wore a simple, roomy, tan linen dress that could have fit in at a nice restaurant for lunch, if I'd dressed it up with accessories. A chic friend recommended it over a Zoom call as her Amazon "find". During a year of lock-down, it became more of a "housecoat" than a chic dress and I wore it a lot, usually barefoot. If I wasn't wearing the tan housecoat, I wore the green or black one. (I'd bought three at my friend's exuberant recommendation.)
As the weather changed, oversize jeans (my husband's hand-me-down) and my favorite navy sweatshirt from Paris became my go-to. This outfit coincided with learning how to clean the house (nobody was allowed to come inside, not even our cleaning ladies). I got a bleach stain on the sweatshirt and eventually a hole formed at the elbow. It's still my favorite. Another pair of loose jeans and a couple of other sweatshirts bought on Amazon got me through the rest of the winter. Socks were usually all I put on my feet.
The weather is warming up and I've started shopping again, in-person! I've bought a few wide-brimmed hats, a couple of skirts, and even a silk blouse. I'm eyeing some nice sandals. I won't be cleaning the bathrooms in these new clothes. I'll be wearing them out to museums, to lunches with friends, to dinners on new outdoor dining patios, and maybe even on airplanes. I'll be mixing and matching, accessorizing, dolling up and down.
When I'm home, though, I'll be back in my uniforms. I've grown to love them.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#getmeout, #dressmeup, #pandemicwardrobe, #pandemicuniform

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

christy

Give this story a date.

2021-07-05
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