Magic Dress
by Tina Portelli
My closet is full of clothes. I have different outfits for different occasions, different colors for different moods. Through the years, I have tossed, bought and updated my wardrobe many times. There are items I will probably never wear, tags still on them, but cannot get rid of, as if someday I might have a change of heart or a need for that garment. I have clothes in every size, progressing from young adult to middle age.
My high hopes fool me into thinking I might someday fit into a size four again.
Ten years ago I was invited to a garden wedding by a man I had just started to date. I was to be his guest at a high society reception. Lord and Taylor did not let me down. I needed something really special, and there it was hanging on the rack calling out to me.
It was a simple, elegant gray, silk dress, which hugged my hips and flared softly and gradually from hip to ankle. The top of the dress was fitted, baring my shoulders, held up by spaghetti straps crossed at the back.
When I put that dress on I knew I looked spectacular and felt so beautiful.
I remember that evening, being on the dance floor with my handsome date, all eyes on me, watching every dance step, every turn I made, gliding like Ginger Rogers, feeling like a star. It was that dress. The movement of the fabric showed off my ankles, transforming me into a dancer that I wasn’t at all. The feeling of elation, confidence and joy that this dress gave me was something special, magical, like Cinderella.
My size four magic dress lies neatly folded, it’s soft, gray silk wrapped in tissue. It awaits resurrection.
I never had an occasion to wear it again; it no longer fits me, a reminder that I once had a slimmer figure. I know I will never part with it.
It was the best dress I ever wore, far out-shining the big “White One”, which eventually met it’s fate with the trash, as did the man for whom I wore it.
Tina says, "I am 54, single and live in Brooklyn, NY. I work in Manhattan as a full time office manager. My writing is a newly found passionate hobby. I get my ideas from personal experiences and the adventures of family and friends. I have never taken a writing class, but three years ago I started practicing meditation. I attribute my newfound passion of writing to that practice, meditation gave me a clear and open mind. No better friend than the soul of my pen." Contact Tina.
