That dress

I found the most beautiful dress at the Atherton Salvation Army store, a discreet, Jersey  frock in jade green.  It was four dollars.  I saw it on the rack and I thought, That dress was made for me.  I’ve always preferred singlets and shorts, but now I am a mainlander, I am trying to pick up my appearance act.

      At 46, I am conscious of the need to dress more sensitively than 20 years ago.  There are wrinkles and dimples and an unavoidable softness to my body that I want to conceal.

     That dress crossed all the middle-aged hurdles; Knee length, low waist, loose skirt, a cross-over and fitting top, but not tight and cap sleeves.

     What better dress to wear when heading to the big smoke,Cairns!  I let my long hair out and dabbed on a bit of lipstick.

     ‘What do you think?’ I asked Tony as I twirled for him.

     ‘S’all right,’ he muttered with a lingering grimace and turned back to the breakfast dish washing.

     ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

     He repeated ‘s’all right’ and actually thought I would let the matter rest.

     ‘Please explain,’ I said unable to avoid my voice whining.

     ‘Well,’ he paused as if trying to work out how long and painful his death was going to be,’ ‘it makes you look old.’

     I decided to let the matter rest and drove to Cairns  with Seffy for Pippa Jane to be desexed. TK and girlfriend Brittney followed in her car. Brittney is 19, from Melbourne and has that capital city chic; bit of makeup, attention to hair, clothes that need ironing and shoes that aren't slip-on. Today she wore a tight sleeveless striped number that was short, as in very short.  She looked stunning.

     When I got to Bubu’s house, she was making coffee. We all piled in, desperate for a feed and coffee.

     ‘Where did you get that dress?’ said Bubu, not with a lingering grimace, but a full-on one.

     ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

     ‘Dad reckons she looks old,’ said TK eagerly awaiting a McKenna ‘discussion,' the kind with raised voices.

     ‘You do.  It’s awful,’ said Bubu.  ‘It’s what a young girl would wear.’

     ‘Mum,’ I said, that whine creeping in again, ‘young girls don’t wear this stuff.  They wear that.’  I pointed to Brittney.’

     Mum carried her coffee to the lounge and sat down. ‘Save it for wearing at home. That’s what I do with my most unflattering dresses.’  

     Before I could hiss something acerbic and throw in a justified criticism of her stupid dogs, Bubu turned to TK.   'And make sure you burn that dress.'