Sugar Plum

Went to see the Moscow Ballet Company’s production of the Nutcracker Suite last night at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore City. It was a very good performance and my seat was almost directly above stage left, so I could look down on the performers at quite an intimate angle, and I could see into the wings on the opposite side of the stage where dancers stood, awaiting their cues to return to the limelight.

What to wear to the ballet? I’d already worn all my fancy Christmas sweaters to various holiday-themed events this season and was eager to try something a little different. I finally settled on a purple-hued blouse with matching drapey slacks from Gantos, a tiny boutique of fancy and formal clothing at Sun Valley Mall in Concord, California that I patronized in my 20s and 30s. I adored that little store, and bought all my formal wear there for decades, even after I’d moved away from California to Nevada and then to Texas. In the 1990s Gantos closed its doors forever and I was devastated. But their legacy lives on in my memory of that wonderful shop every time I don one of their exquisite outfits - and I have several.

Hey, Kari. Remember this? When I lived in Dallas, Texas, my best friend, Kari, and I would go to a dancing venue called Ernie’s in North Dallas. I wore this outfit there. Kari and I did a lot of dancing in those days! But, I digress. As I dressed for the ballet, I noticed that my favorite platform pumps were too tall for these slacks, so I wore my old, classic, pointy-toed stilettos that I purchased at Two-Lips shoes in Grapevine Mills mall in Texas about 15 years ago. The pumps are extremely comfortable and are the same shoes I used to wear dancing at Ernie’s.

To break up all that purple a little, I donned smoky-jeweled belt from The Limited and a favorite necklace of gray pearls from Fire & Ice Jewelers of Baltimore (http://fireandice.com/). I was going to wear coordinated gray pearl earrings that belonged to my mother, but then I spotted some purple metal earrings in my jewelry armoire that I wore with this outfit back in the 1990s. Why not complete the vintage look all the way?  So I did.

Despite the gorgeous sugar plum fairies in their frilly tutus on stage, I got several complements about my own take on purple at the ballet, and two ladies at Corks restaurant after the performance said they "loved" my outfit. Works for me!

Cheers,

Lynell