Nicole and I sporting our "nice outfits."
I must confess that I am a sucker for before and after shows. You know, the ones where they transform a cluttered storage room to a fabulous home office. Or when they take an average looking person and give them a stunning new look with a fashionable wardrobe.
So, it should come as no surprise that during my college days I watched my fair share of Staci and Clinton’s What Not to Wear. Partly because I wanted to see the before and after shots, partly because I wanted to see what fashion faux pas I was committing. Needless to say, I think I’m doomed to always look like a teacher…
Fashion has taken a front row seat in month 4 of the Race. It shows up everywhere- on campus, walking down the street, in our apartment (our roommates are quite fashionable). In South America, you can wear pink, orange and green and somehow it matches. Here, black is the color of choice, accented with gray and brown. Despite the dismal color palette, it has become quite obvious we’re different.
I wear the same pair of jeans, everyday. I rotate the two long sleeve shirts I own and occasionally allow myself a “relaxed day” when I get to wear my hoodie sweatshirt. Yep, it’s still the red Puma one I bought in Peru. Oh, it also doubles as my pajamas each night along with my Abdibas sweatpants. When it’s really cold, I wear my boots with the fur that I bought at the bazaar upon arrival. If it’s “warmer” I bust out the gray Toms and fight against drafty ankles. I’ve ranked my 5 t-shirts from good-better-best based on how big the pit stains are. I’ve condemned one t-shirt to be a permanent workout shirt due to the perma-stains. I could go on, but I think you get the picture…
Out of necessity, my wardrobe has actually increased this month due to the climate change. But what is a girl to do when, you guessed it, she’s invited to a wedding?
That’s right, we were invited to an Albanian wedding.
And I had nothing to wear.
(Left) Toni, officiating the ceremony. (Right) Zamir and Anila, two of our contacts, will marry this summer.
Our contacts reassured us that whatever we wore was okay, but the typical dress for the ceremony and cocktail was a dress and heels. Casual, they reiterated, casual. Keep in mind I’m rockin’ the teacher look, so a dress and heels is not casual for me. All I’ve got in my pack is a knee-length black shirt…and my Toms. My “better” and “best” t-shirts are dirty, leaving me with only the new sweaters I bought at the bazaar (and by new, I mean new to me. I literally picked them out of a pile of second-hand clothes stacked on a dirty table…)
Feeling hopeless, I put on my stretched out jeans and new purple sweater. It smelled a bit musty but nothing a little body spray can’t handle, right? Then it was teammate Nicole to the rescue. She lent me a black and white shirt that went well with my skirt, because wearing jeans was frowned upon. We added some jewelry and I dusted off my Toms- ready to go.
I’m quite certain Staci and Clinton would be horrified by our missionary wedding outfits, but we did the best we could with what we had. We enjoyed the cultural experience, as well as the left over wedding favors- yum!
Function over fashion. Just a daily reality on the World Race!
Video? All right! Click here for a video recap of this fun adventure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zCRd6qQ3Cg
Nicole attempting to keep warm post wedding. Yes, those are free airplane socks!
If you want to read more about the topic of fashion and Eastern Europe, my teammate Nicole wrote a great blog recapping our experience here in Albania. It’s entitled Mirror Mirror on the Wall:
http://nicoleransom.theworldrace.org/?filename=lacking-a-look-for-the-season&bookmark=true#comments
