Tag Archives: The Red Dress writing Club

A pair for every mood

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Jeans. They can evoke so much emotion in us: the hot jeans we wear on a date, the skinny jeans we can finally fit into, mom jeans we vow never to wear, the comfy jeans we’ll never throw out.

The assignment this week is to write a piece – fiction or creative non-fiction – in which jeans play a prominent role. You can even write an ode if you’re so inclined.

I own a lot of jeans… probably more than I really need. Dark ones. Light one. Straight leg. Skinny jeans. Flare. The list goes on and on really and I love them all.

But the thing is that each pair is just different enough that they each fit a different day and a different mood.

My new favorites are the super dark wash jeans with the straight legs from the Gap. The hug my curves gently and paired with heels they make my legs look long & lean. They’re a great pair of jeans for dressing up for work or an evening out on the town.We’ll call them the sexy jeans.

Closeup of a copper rivet on blue jeans.

Image via Wikipedia

I have the frumpy jeans. The fat jeans. The comfortable jeans. I think that we all have them, don’t we? These are the jeans that I wear on the weekends when I’m not going anywhere other than maybe a quick trip to the grocery store. They’re not the most attractive jeans and they don’t make me or anyone look good in them. But I love them. I can curl up on the couch in them comfortably and read a book. I can throw on a sweatshirt and tennis shoes and go outside and play with the kids without worrying if I’m going to ruin them.

Trouser jeans are another favorite. They have such a classic, dressed up look & feel to them but still lend a casual tone when paired with a simple shirt & flats.

My old stand-by’s are the casual every day jeans that aren’t to low and aren’t to high and just slightly flare. Dressed up with heels and a silky shirt they’re ready for dinner with the husband. Worn more casually with a cute t shirt, scarf, and flats I’m ready to head out for a day of shopping with my kids or friends.

With fall coming I’ve been pulling out all of my jeans, heels, boots, and sweaters. I’m excited to start pairing up new outfits and shopping for new pieces to add to my collection!

Now, there is a type of jean that I never wear. Ever. Mom jeans. They’re terrible on anyone…. no matter who you are you simply can’t make these jeans look good. I should tell you that my middle daughter likes them…. she’s odd… but she has her own unique fashion sense and seeks them out at resale shops & Goodwill. She pairs them with the most hideous sweaters she can find too… I usually don’t take her out in public with me when she dresses like that. I draw enough attention to myself with the loud toddler!

It’s interesting how certain pieces of clothing can evoke certain feelings and moods and even more so specific pieces when paired in different combinations. Whether it’s sexy, comfortable, intelligent, bad ass, or confidence jeans are the one article of clothing that can be worn just about anywhere.

What are your favorite pair of jeans?

Pictures

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This week’s prompt is based on the picture below. It’s one that when I saw it I wasn’t going to take part because it didn’t fit the story lines that I had already started. But I decided to push myself since it wasn’t a very good reason to not write.

I don’t want to say I struggled with what I wrote but it’s more that I feel like something is missing and I don’t know what it is. So please read and give me your feedback. Good, bad, or otherwise!

 

cameraShe had to get out from behind the camera, she knew that but it was more difficult that one would think.

Her life was her cameras, film, and her dark room. They brought her comfort like nothing else in the world could. With her camera she was part of everything that she took a picture of without having to actually interact with people.

Introvert. That was one way to put it. Shy, reserved, or wallflower were a few more but whatever you called it what it came down to was that she wasn’t comfortable with people.

She’d always been this way, for as long as she could remember. Playing the park as a little girl she’d always find the swing that was furthest from all the other kids or go sit under a tree and read a book.

It wasn’t until her parents bought her a camera for her 14th birthday that she started to get out more. Still alone and still not mingling too much with others, but they were happy that it was a start.

Pictures became her life. She took her camera everywhere and took pictures of virtually everything and everyone. Most people didn’t realize that they were her subjects as she captured their smiles, their laughter, their games, families, and picnics in the park.

She captured the little things in life that she was missing out on and lived through her photos.

She’d sort through her best pictures, lay them out on the table, and just look at them. Why couldn’t she be the girl in the picture having a picnic with her boyfriend? Why couldn’t she be the young mother pushing the carriage through the park? Why couldn’t she be the one eating lunch with friends and laughing?

She surrounded herself with pictures, instead of people, wanting to be part of it all. She wanted to step outside herself and be a different person.

She wanted to change. But how?

For now she had her cameras and the world was her canvas. The world through pictures was her only friend.

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Pictures – The Rewrite

Based on some great feedback and the fact that this post just bothered me I decided to rewrite it but put it with the original so you could compare the two.

Looking down at the glossy photo as her tears started to slowly dissolve the image she became more angry. Why! The paper crumpled easily in her hands as the edges of the thick paper poked her palm as she crushed it. Pictures were supposed to evoke feelings from remembering a beautiful moment in life… not pain from the paper.

She had to get out from behind the camera, she knew that but it was more difficult than anyone imagined.

This was her life and she’d always been this way, for as long as she could remember.

Pictures became her life. With her camera slung over her shoulder or around her neck it everywhere with her and she took pictures of virtually everything and everyone. People didn’t realize that they were her subjects as she captured their smiles, their laughter, their games, families, and picnics in the park.

With every click of the shutter she captured the little things in life that she was missing out on and lived through her photos.

She sorted through her best pictures; laid them out on the table, and just looked at them. Why couldn’t she be the girl in the picture having a picnic with her boyfriend? Why couldn’t she be the young mother pushing the carriage through the park? Why couldn’t she be the one eating lunch with friends and laughing?

Playing in the park as a little girl she’d always find the swing that was furthest from all the other kids wishing that she wasn’t so afraid to talk to the other kids. Fear kept her from living life.

She surrounded herself with pictures, instead of people, wanting to be part of it all. She wanted to step outside herself and be a different person.

Change. Change is really what she wanted in her life. But how?

But for now she had her cameras and the world was her canvas. The world through pictures was her only friend.

A Class Trip: Greenfield Village

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School trips. We all go on them. What trip do you remember the most? Where did you go? Who was with you? How did you get there? Have you ever been back?
Write a memoir post about a memorable school trip. Word limit is 600.

I think it was 4th or 5th grade, I really don’t remember the grade for sure but I don’t think it matters. What matters is the trip. My class was planning an overnight trip to Greenfield Village. Overnight? Yes, they have dorms that you can stay in (or they used to).

We had a fundraiser to help with the cost of the trip. Since at the time we lived in a pretty rural area and our neighbors weren’t all that close to us so there was a lot of walking and bike riding so I could sell all those packages of M&M’s.

For a week or more I would trek down the dirt roads asking everybody who was home if they would want to buy my candy after I explained the trip. It didn’t take long before I had sold my entire box of candy and I had enough to go on the trip. I was so excited to be going away for the night with all of my friends.

Soon the day of our trip came and we all met at the school with our bags, pillows, and sleeping bags. You could almost taste the excitement in the air! All those kids gathering to go away overnight to a place many of us had never been to.

After what seemed like an endless bus ride we arrived we were taken to the dorms, girls in theirs and the boys in theirs. The rooms were large and lines with bunk beds that we quickly moved towards so we could claim the ones we wanted with our best friends. We rolled out our sleeping bags, put our pillows in place, and were ready for the next adventure.

The series of events next are in no particular order because the order isn’t what I remember…. it’s the fun things we did.

Swimming! What kid doesn’t love to go swimming? Especially when they don’t have a pool or live near a lake. And an indoor pool… even better! I believe it was after a quick tour of the dorm that we went back and got into our swimsuits so we could go to the pool. Mine was a one piece purple suit and I remember this because I loved that suit and with purple being one of my favorite colors it’s stuck with me.

The pool was a huge indoor pool, or to me at a young age it was huge. We swam for a while before heading back to change and get ready for dinner in the cafeteria.

It was a great few days for me and my classmates. The village, the pool, dorms, and staying away from our families overnight.

I haven’t stayed overnight there since that one time and I don’t even know if that option is still available for schools, but I’ve been back to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum many times. Class trips with my two oldest girls and a couple of times just with my family.

Regardless of how you visit it’s worth the trip. Fun and education all rolled into one place.

The tables turned

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Physical beauty.

It can open doors – and can also shut them.

Write a scene in which a physically beautiful character is somehow impacted by that trait. If you are doing non-fiction, you can write about yourself or someone you know.

She was beautiful. She knew it and she used to get ahead in life no matter whom she stepped on along the way. Hers was the kind of beauty that caused people from all walks of life to stop and look… classic, elegant, and timeless all at once.

She was ugly. On the inside she was manipulative, conniving, cold, and calculating. It was the kind of ugliness that was well hidden or masked by the fake laughter & smiles that she handed out like it was nothing at all. But every thing done was well thought out.

She was two sides of the same coin. Good and bad. Night and day. Ying and Yang.

She was able to get any man that she wanted and of course she used her looks to that advantage. She had set her sights on a specific man and wasn’t going to let him slip through her clutches. Her sights were set much higher than she’d ever had them before, but this time it was for life… or until she got bored with being married.

She had her work cut out for him since he had just recently broken up with a long time girlfriend and didn’t want to be a rebound girlfriend or a one-night stand. To her that would be the ultimate insult after all the work she was planning. Yes, she had done her homework and she’d done it well. She knew exactly what to do and how to get it done.

She joined various groups in the city and went to charity functions that his mother & sister attended. She made friends with the right people (the ones he knew of course) and his family. It wasn’t all that difficult for her given beauty and charm.

Eventually, his mother introduced her to him in an official manner. She was sweet, charming, and more than beautiful and he was enamored with her.

Time passed quickly and she was able to wrap him around her finger without any trouble at all and almost in the same amount of time she was able to piss off his sister and show her true colors.
She became jealous. Worried. Because like her he was an incredibly good-looking man and was able to garner the attention of many women and he used his looks in many of the same ways she did.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that his feelings for her were just as shallow as hers once were, but it was to late because she was truly in love with him.

The tables had turned. She found herself in a position that she was unprepared for and it was a position that she usually left her boyfriend of the moment in. She had to create a new plan, one that would cement her place in life by his side. Something more than just a pretty girl on his arm.

The situation pissed her off and more than that his attitude towards her in recent weeks. He’d started acting aloof, distant, and often flirting back with the women who caught his attention.

The day finally came when he dumped her and she felt her world crash down around her in a million pieces. This is what they felt like… this is what she did… this is when she knew that she had to change.