Dress Up

Remember when you were little and used to play "dress up?" (I am talking to females now) It was so fun to put on sparkly gowns, toss a feather boa around your neck and put on shiny jewelry.

Last Saturday night my friend Gina and I attended the Rochester Radio Theater Farewell Gala event. You can't see it in the picture but Gina wore sparkly tights which added to her smashing dress. You also can't see that I wore black, comfortable sneakers with my gown. My Dad always said "you can't be happy if your feet hurt" and my feet were happy all night.

My Dad, Vic Karn, was a commercial artist. After working for a company for many years he opened his own shop in our house. Every morning he would top off his clothing with a shirt and tie and head down to the basement shop at 6:00 a.m. I asked him why he dressed up when he worked in the basement and he said what he wore made him feel more professional. Plus, if he had to zip uptown (In Albert Lea, MN you always went uptown) he looked nice.

Sure, many of his ties were paint spattered but it merely added to his character.

Lots of places have dress-down Fridays where employees wear jeans. I think every few months they should have dress up days instead. Or tacky day! However, then you run the risk of wearing your usual clothing and your coworkers will secretly mock you.

Next month Community Education is sponsoring a Tacky Town Tour trip. You are encouraged to dress in tacky attire - whoo-hoo! and you will tour tacky sites in the Twin Cities. I've already begun to put together a tacky outfit and have only looked in my closet.

Why don't you dress up sometime this weekend? Dig out your old glow-in-the-dark holiday sweater and slip it on before you go grocery shopping. You will feel glamorous and the odd looks you get from strangers just means they are wishing they had the chutzpah to pull it off.