Sparks, drops, and good friends

Hi,

This one’s going to be somewhat of a mixed bag. But hey, isn’t that how life plays out? But, I’m off today which is always a good start to the weekend in my book! 🙂

Sparks

The housework is just about sorted and I’ve even had a chuck out of old clothes. Items that I loved at the time, but I’m not wearing. Some are old favourites that no longer fit (thank you, middle aged spread 🐖). Others I’m just not wearing because… well, perhaps a difficult truth to speak is I’ve got too much. I forget who said it but I’m conscious of the phrase “we wear 10% of our clothes 90% of the time.” So, yeah, stuff builds up.

I guess a charity shop will do well with the fancy shirts, dresses, tops, and skirts. I have opened the shoe cupboard, and while I wasn’t burried under a heap of Emelda level footwear, I think one round of sorting is enough for today. I have tackled two sets of tall draws (furniture, not Big Girl Pants!🙂), the dress cupboard, and two of the wardrobes. In my defence (your Honour 😉) we’ve built in cupboards upstairs, so they’re not the full on Narnia portal hiders.

I have yet to sort the box of tights in one of the cupboards. I know I’ve two draws of socks & undies that I am not wearing. Not so much the middle class consumer sin of bought and unworn, but items that I’ve got better versions of, so it’s a case of coming back to that 10/90 comment from earlier. After I sort the washing, I’ll be having a look for recycling and to see if there’s any charities who’ll take undies.

As I folded the items up, I was reminded of the tidying advice from Marie Kondo, “Does it spark joy?“.

That and – because My Braain Wieud 🙃 – “if you ain’t worn it in twelve months, time to let go.”

Ah, how I love to get into a tangle and overthink stuff! 😁

So, in the Venn Diagram overlap zone of Joy & Unworn:

• A black sequin skirt from the fancy photo…. or as Pandora kindly titled “whit woo” which I’m hoping is a good thing! 😁 I put that in the basket to go, regretted that, took it out, and then forced myself to let go.
• A jumper dress which makes me feel Christmasy and a bit ‘fancy older parent’ – so certainly joy, but also, the Evil Clothing Pixies have shrunk it by two dress sizes, the little sh**s 😉
• A ‘Little Black Dress’ of dark lace which I have fond memories of during the socially distanced and thank-goodness-we’re-safe-and-well Chams’ Xmas Do. I’ll let you guess if that might have been taken during the pandemic! 😏

Here’s the Unusual Suspects…. and two of them with auburn hair.

Buuuut, I am not going to wear them, so they need to be passed along. I tell myself that if someone else will have the joy of a good night out, of finding just the right thing that’s them; well, that’s a good thing to pay it foward. I do, at least, have the memories and aren’t they more important than things?

Chams

I was very thankful for a night out. The old Too Much Time As Him meter was creeping up into the red zone. Maybe you know the one: feelings of ick around how you look (to use a modern term); things that shouldn’t bother you, do; and visits from the HyperFocus Fairy (“Hey, a sale! No harm is just looking?”….and down the rabbithole we go!).

With Wigeroo visiting, I popped into our local florists and picked up a hand-tied bouquet* for Nicola. It felt like the kind thing to do given she was taking time out of her evening to come up to the group. Now, If I had a working class background as per the Ever Lovely Mrs J, I’d have said bunch of 😉

The group had been discussing taking a photo of us to add to the web site. Understandably, not everyone wanted to be in that and that is absolutely okay. The request came from those who’d recently attended and we’d had good feedback around the ‘Our Stories’ section of the Chams web site. I guess that helps put names to faces, but also helps set the scene for who attends. At least, that’s the feedback folk have been kind enough to share. Until everyone has given their okay to that snap, it’ll not be visible on the web site just yet.

I had picked up a dress in the sale (yeah, I didn’t need to but I did 😔) and while the colour and length were spot on – in fact, Anne commented on it, bless her – the item lacked any gathering at the waist. Given I’d not packed a belt, it felt a bit of a sack. I’ve tried it back on this morning with a belt and I just can’t get it to work. That’ll be a return job for later.

Drop

I’m going to try and word this so I don’t put this the wrong way. For anyone who helps take a photo, I am always grateful of their kindness and help. I feel I need to be clear this is a me thing, not anything anyone has done. Last night – which we’ll come to in a mo – went brilliantly and we’ll come back to that in a mo.

As I sat down to write this waffle post I copied the photos from the night before, and… [insert heavy sigh] is that what I look like? 😞 Slighty dumpy, too up & down, and…. yeah, all the other negative things we say to ourselves, and wouldn’t dream of saying to a friend. Yet, here we are.

What is that? The trans equivalent of a Fat Day turned up to eleven? Post good night out come down or something else? I was… I was happy last night. I had a new ‘do and I felt my outfit was okay. I’ve worn that dress and boots combo before, and felt good in them. So why this? Why the crash? FFS brain.

Moving on….

New ‘Do

With Nicola set up, members were taking a look at the stock, trying things on, and much fun was had testing new wigs. Earlier on, Rosalind – a lady new the group – had brought in a wig stand she’d crafted from wood at home. Thinking about her and Nicola – possibly 2+2 = good luck? – I introduced both and maybe we will be seeing some lovingly hand crafted stands with the Wigeroo brand on soon. Hopefully a win for all parties.🤞

K – a lady who makes her way to Chams when she can – bought a new wig after a spot of customisation by Nicola. As with Rosalind and Jessica, it wasn’t that their old ‘do wasn’t great or didn’t work – none of that negativity. I think it’s more – as someone said to me in the Changing Room – “this one just feels right, more me” which I totally get.

I think that’s why I’ve struggled to move on from my regular bob with the highlights. Even though that wig is starting to show its age a little, and I’ve got an amazing human hair one. I didn’t bring that ‘cos it’s currently in curlers after a wash.

On that note, I decided to take the plunge and go for a new one as well. The photo is pre-trim, so it’s lacking the Wigeroo magic to customise and make it my own. But, that aside, I was very happy with it. Apologies for the slightly ropey selfie. Best I could do at the time.

In terms of colour and length, it’s very much like my hair was when I was in my 20s. That time where the ice had retreated and mammoths were looking into epilators to cope with the hot flushes 😉

Tidy up & Goodbye

We had to get Henry the Hoover out of the downstairs closet and give the carpet a going over. The Changing Room had a few snips of hair in it and as we’d popped out to see the Northern Lights, some of the Centre’s grass cuttings had got stuck on our boots. Ooops! Still, in true Chams style, we left the place looking tidier than when we started 😉

Here’s to a long weekend, someone finding just the right outfit from my charity shop donations, and no more visits from the Negativity Pixies around photos.

L x