...okay, she never got paid for it... but I'm sure that years ago, the wardrobe spies spotted my mother in a hacked off turtleneck and thought of Jennifer Beals. Alright, not totally likely either, but I can tell you that long before Flashdance, my mom INVENTED cutting up sweatshirts and tees, particularly removing necklines, sleeves, and hems. I know. I watched her, and I've inherited the compulsion (I could have called it desire, need, etc, but it appears to be a spontaneous urge to hack the crap out of inexpensive tees, etc. that just don't fit quite right, so it's more of a compulsion, I think)... I've also inherited a number of other traits from my mom, but we'll save those for another time. (Excuse me while I pick little pieces of lint off the rug that I just vacuumed.)
Why did this become today's blog topic? It's not like a Flashdance reunion weekend, and to my knowledge, Jennifer B. and her co-stars didn't die in a freak plane crash. (although my mentioning it will make that happen now, just watch!!)
It came to me last night while I was hacking away at a "Hanes for Her" t-shirt -- in this extreme NY summer heat and humidity - the need to find a shirt with minimal fabric drove me to grab scissors and tee. While I was cutting so confidently to make the crew neck wider & cooler, I thought of my mom and started to laugh. She always insists she's not creative. And I knew that she was wrong. And that so many people don't recognize all of the ways in which they are creative.
... I thought of her again, a half-hour later, when I took my dog out for his evening walk, and the new, larger neckline kept falling off my shoulders, to reveal the straps of my sport bra.
So go out there and create!!!!
You're "a maniac, maniac..."
8 comments:
Love it! It made me laugh. And you are so very right. Just go out and create!
You are so funny, Kerri, I want to be 1st in line to buy your book when it comes out! Laura J
now I am going to have that song in my head ALL day long...and I will just have to pull it up on you tube, just to make matters even worse...pretty soon my daughter will hear it blasting from the speakers and come running down the stairs to see and she will start dancing...and then stop to see that she isn't wearing the perfect skirt for spinning, so she will beg me to stop the song so she can change, then she will return...hours later we will still be singing and dancing like we never did before....
thank you for the song and dance.
i very much loved reading your post. xo
Sisser,
This is so funny. I was laughing out loud when I was reading this. As I started to read I was saying to myself "she inherited much more then hacking a few t-shirts from Mom" and then I read on and you said it. HYSTERICAL!!!!
xoxo
I too have been hacking tshirts for the last 30 some years. Every concert t i got a hold of was just too high up on my neck, i couldnt stand it. Im almost 44 and find myself STILL hacking the collars off my tshirts!
Hi!
I'm having an Artful Blogger party on my blog this Wednesday the 8th to celebrate the publication and artsy blogs everywhere. Congrats on your article. Hope you'll join in the fun.
Kari
www.artsymama.blogspot.com
I could almost see you dancing about in leg warmers with your pup in pursuit!
Hee-hee!
Jennifer got her trade-mark sweatshirt by accident. It had shrunk in the wash and she couldn't get it over her head. So she cut the neckline off to make it bigger. Lo and behold, she made a name out of a everyday mistake!
You're right. Who says good can't come out of clothes you slice and dice? Keep on creating!
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