Turquoise: A Wardrobe Flashback

 

Listening to NPR a number of years ago, I caught an interview about how popular “Fantasy Football” was becoming for women.  That night, I decided to sign up and was instantly hooked.  I played for years, and even though my draft picks weren’t always rock-solid, my “Waiver-Wire” game was on point.

While I haven’t played Fantasy in a few years, my “Waiver Wire” game is still on point, but now it’s using Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.  Trolling on the FREE section, I find all kinds of junk, including a lot of fill dirt, but occasionally I find a piece like this dresser (left).  As soon as I laid my eyes on it, I knew turquoise was in its future.

The dresser drawers needed a lot of work, but overall it had gorgeous bones.  After some research on the internet, I found two drawer rails at Orchard Supply Company for $5.99 each.  Requiring way too much patience, I left that part up to My Man.  He could work on about those railings after the dresser was painted.

A couple of strokes of Home Depot Marquee Turquoise Oops paint, and I saw this dresser was well on its way from being liberated of the boring brown it had previously lived its life. Note: remember Oops paint! This quart of custom-made paint cost me $2.

As I began work on the piece with a second coat of chalk paint, my past fashion choices popped into my head. I think of some crazy stuff while I am painting, but it’s amazing stress relief.  For some reason, I thought about how much I always loved how Kim Hudson (Williams) dressed when we travelled together with USC volleyball.  She had so much style!

I started life wearing homemade frocks – including this beauty my mom made me when I was less than two years old.  My mom has since crocheted hundreds of these dresses!

Fast forward.  After a year of junior college, that let’s just say didn’t go as well as expected, I chose to wear this outfit (below).  I served in the U.S. Army for two and a half years, including two years in the White House.  Yes, that White House.  Luckily, I wore business suits in the White House.  They didn’t want the general public to know how many military personnel served there.

Back in college full-time at Illinois State University, I found peace in bright pinks and flowers.  Lots and lots of flowers.

After I graduated with my Masters’s and completed a post-graduate internship in Chicago, I moved to South Carolina.  The bright colors of my wardrobe moved there with me and featured home-sewn outfits like this jumpsuit (below).  My mom made me three or four of these and I wore them all over.  Do you remember me from the pages of Glamour magazine as a fashion DON’T? Although, I might have been before my time, because haven’t these jumpers come back into fashion once again?

My wardrobe has matured, mostly featuring a lot of black. I occasionally mix in some bright colors on special occasions, but no more homemade jumpsuits for this girl.

Let’s get back to the dresser!  When it was finished, I was stunned. It looked drop-dead gorgeous! I really wish I could have kept this one (sold it to a couple who were going to use it in their new babies nursery).

This curbside throwaway had taken on a new life in turquoise! 

Standing there in awe, my favorite dress from Anthropologie popped in my head!  My  wardrobe isn’t made up of all blacks and grays these days.  I grabbed my I-Phone and looked back at my birthday pictures.  There it was — the photo that proved the revamped dresser and I were dressed exactly alike!