Creative Relief from Isolation Blues

By TINA WILSON

I hope all of you are safe and comfortable in your homes. I am and that is what made writing this so difficult, I could not shake the belief that right now as we face this pandemic, no one cares about fashion. I don’t, not really. I am fortunate to have a home and to be able to buy food, cleaning products and entertainment, that is the exception not the rule. Nonetheless I will try to put on a smile and write.

We are all becoming creative with our time, with our kids, with each other, and if anything at all good comes out of this, it may be we are kinder more empathetic people, we shall see. I am a TV-holic especially when it comes to reruns of British tv series like Luther and Inspector Lynley or 80’s tv. My faves are Kojak when NYC was grimy, dangerous and the nightlife was superb.  Currently its Hart to Hart (don’t judge me) and Medium. These relics take me back in time to a place where for a few hours I can forget the present. Then there is Netflix all the other pay tv services. I prefer to spend hours binging in a big “Blankie” and my underwear, a sort of makeshift cocoon, not to be confused with a Snuggie.

Cooking at home is the new dining out, I am seeing posts from friends on FB showing off their culinary skills, like never before. What to wear while cooking, preferably something with short sleeves or no sleeves, we don’t want those kimono sleeves in the stew? I would suggest the “Honcho” (home poncho) or just a plain old T-shirt. Speaking of stew, I made this the other day, https://thefirstmess.com/2020/02/19/sweet-potato-coconut-milk-stew/. Words cannot describe how much the spices comforted me.

Exercising at home is a must, it will keep us sane…. maybe. Your existing leggings should suffice but there are many great options out there, HUE for instance has a vast assortment of styles and colors that are affordable. And this is the time when we may be tempted to forgo a bra, I urge you to weigh your options.Whether you are doing yoga in a triangle bra or jumping as high you can in a quality sports bra, its probably a good idea to wear one. Meditating requires nothing more than the desire to completely tune out, I will try anything to do that, the other night I tried a “Sound Bath” online, it was different, and it helped!!!

Never have sweatpants, “stretch pants”,or joggers been more necessary than now. Pretty much everything else below the waist is irrelevant, underwear aside. I read an article that men’s dress shirts are still selling, and dress pants, not a all. Which takes me to what to wear while on that Skype call or that Zoom meeting? I imagine women all over the country wearing their silk blouse with old beaten up sweatpants. Some mornings we forget we have these meetings until seconds before, I have the answer and I call it the “Oversleep” and it basically a big but tasteful shroud that covers your neck, half your face and limits the sans-makeup view of your face. Sun glasses optional. Or you can turn off the video, but sometimes that is not an option.

Other great options for a visual wardrobe thanks to Zoom, WebinarJam or Cisco and others is the always popular “Comfort Cardi” or the “Prodigan” ( professional looking cardigan). Both work well when you know you will be onscreen with scrutinizing eyes upon you, we must look like we showered even if we didn’t. No one will think you are slacking off if your’e wearing one of these.

There is much online chatter about what to wear at home, what new things to buy to wear at home, you may already have whatever you need since now we are dressing by activity not destination, a huge shift for all of us. I hope we all get back to dressing for black tie events, beaches, dinner dates, parties, BBQ’s, operas, concerts, graduations and sporting events, but for now…..if you can afford it, support the hard hit retail sector and order a great pair of pj’s, loungewear, some nice new undies or just a pair of socks. You could also send to someone in need who can’t afford it. By no means do I trivialize what we are all going through and suggest shopping will make it better, it won’t. But it might distract us from the constant barrage of information, predictions and misinformation. Please take care of yourselves, stay home, and try to surround yourselves with family, comfort and hope.

Peace, compassion and peace of mind…

Tina