Thursday, September 6, 2007

Out of my league!

There are certain social circles in which I was just not meant to roam. this was confirmed the other day by a hilarious work lunch meeting I experienced.

Our press officer, who is a fantastic person, and connected to all sorts of cool people and stuff met with myself and two other people regarding a project we sponsor. He informed me that we'd be eating at the Royal Scots Club. 'Cool', thought I 'a proper lunch'. When he asked me to let our other male guest know that he'd be required to enter said club with a tie and jacket, I began to suspect I was in for a treat in more ways than one.

As we walked along the road, me in my clicky Clarks ankle boots, New Look Black Trousers (18 pounds), Next Clearance Top (3 pounds), old, New Look beige trencoat (cheap, very cheap), and Dorothy Perkins tote bag with black and white butterflies (5 pounds) I tried my best to look and feel fabulous. The clicky heels did help. I strode into the Royal Scots Club with confidence - a la Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Lunch was fine. however, I missed a crucial moment of fabulousity when the other three started to talk about a film maker who I claimed I had never heard of. Went home, and realised - yes, I do indeed know exactly who Jaques Tati is, and I have actually seen at least one of his films.

At the end of our lunch, the waitress approached the table and politely asked our host to pay attention to the dress code in the future because one of our party was wearing a denim dress. A DENIM DRESS! Oh, the shame. I was pleased to see that no-one else in the party seemed to have noticed or cared (it wasn't me wearing the denim by the way - my attire is detailed above!).

All this is to say, that I have dreamt of being fabulous, with silken hair, a graceful walk, and cool clothes all of my life and once again I have been forced to remember that I am just little old me. No need to 'breeze' or 'float' or 'glide'. No need to fit perfectly into the latest fashion. Just need to be me. No doubt in a few weeks time I will have another Royal Scots club moment when I try to be fabulous and I will again be reminded that I just need to be me. But I am on the journey and those incidents are becoming fewer and further between.

2 comments:

Heidi Sue said...

Dear Fi,

This is a fabulous post. I love you - little old you - in all of your you-ness and miss you. Thanks for the telephone birthday wishes on the same day that you wrote this post. I'm sorry I missed your calls!

Unknown said...

I've always liked your style! But I especially like that there's a whole lot of depth behind the outward appearance of Fiona. :-)

Lately I've been feeling like I have a very "Midwest" wardrobe which is fine in the Midwest but doesn't really cut it in London. Need to get a job so I can do something about that...