A few days ago, on a total whim, a very dear friend and I decided we’d splurge on tickets to the opera. This part of the story is not make believe. Our nose bleed tickets for one of the first in-person performances at the Metropolitan Opera in eighteen months have been bought and paid for and we’re giddy with excitement. We’ll be wearing our masks and the fanciest things we can come up with and hopping on the subway, cackling our way all the way to Lincoln Center. The only problem I foresee is that when it comes to fancy things…I don’t really have any. I tend to be a jeans and sweaters and sneaks kind of person. I work from home and for the past year and a half I’ve mostly been home so the idea of dressing up is exciting and also, maybe, just a little bit daunting. Good thing I’m very good at playing make believe.
Here’s what I’d wear in my daydreams:
A silk organza dress for floating about in.
Embossed black heels with ankle straps for still being able to run to the subway in.
A pair of laurel hoops for a little glimmer.
A glass beaded beauty for fun.
Cara cara shade slick for color.
An old favorite perfume.
And a transit authority token as a little love letter to this city.
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TAKE ACTION:
In an effort to ground this make-believing in something a bit more down to earth, here’s something that needs urgent attention:
Rally: October 2nd is the Rally for Reproductive Justice National Day of Action. More than 90 organizations, including Women’s March, Planned Parenthood, The Frontline, Working Families Party, SisterSong, and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, are co-sponsoring a rally in Washington DC (and in cities throughout the country) to send a clear message to the Supreme Court that threats to reproductive justice will not be tolerated. RSVP and learn more here.
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9 Comments
I love this series, and this one is particularly dreamy. That dress is breathtaking!
Woooow talk about excitement!! Enjoy it!
Also here to vouch for ds durga coriander – fancy and formal, but also so cool
yes! i love it. wore to my wedding but haven’t had a bottle in years!
I hope you have a wonderful time at the opera! I was a devoted patron of the cheap ticket night at the Lyric Opera here in Chicago, and one of the many tiny tragedies of the pandemic was that the last in Wagner’s Ring cycle was cancelled, and thus my four year quest to complete the cycle was dashed.
But one of my favorite things about going to the opera is to people watch. People show up to the opera in everything from jeans and sneakers to full on ball gowns. The Sante Fe Opera was my favorite for this because people would come in their dress cowboy hats and boots. I hope you wear the fanciest things if you want to, but there’s no wrong way to opera!
floating about (on occasion) is always a good idea…
I immediately thought of your long velvet dress, if you still have it, that you wore to a wedding some years ago. That and a pink velvet ribbon for the hair, like your daughter! Sigh, opera in New York, that sounds lovely. Have a wonderful time!
such pretty make-believing, & it’s brought back some lovely memories…
I spent some time teaching in Melbourne, and a friend had a friend who worked at Ticketmaster so we frequently got last-minute front-row seats for the opera. another friend was a milliner, so we’d swan in wearing amazing fascinators (before they were a thing!), with her calling cards to hand out along the way. so fun.
another memory, from my days as a teenage au pair in Paris: a ballet at the Opéra Garnier, and the nose-bleed seats had us close to the Chagall ceiling.
and my first opera. my beloved grandmother, from a tiny hamlet in Saskatchewan, took me to see Carmen. Thirteen years old, and Carmen.
Always wonderful memories, especially so during this Covid desert.
that. dress. ….classy for so many occasions…
That dress is gorgeous! Love it.
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