As I write this, one of my oldest friends, Genessa (also known as G, or G Dogg) has a wedding to attend this evening for one of her friends. The wedding is at 6 p.m. in Mount Pleasant's Old Village.
Here's a little background: I've known G for ages. She's one of my dear college friends, and we've been housemates for several years now. And she's always been low-maintanance when it comes to her looks...with good reason. As a natural beauty and practically a professional athlete, she isn't what you'd call a girly girl.
"What are you wearing?" I innocently asked G earlier today, while we worked together on writing a poem for her friend's card.
"A hippie dress and my flip flops," declared Genessa without hesitation.
I wrinkled my brow. "At a six o'clock wedding? No. You cannot wear your beach shoes. Don't you have a pair of heels?" Having assisted Genessa in preparing for special occasions in the past, I had a feeling the answer was no.
Moments later, the three of us (our other housemate Dana included) were trying to conjure up a laid-back, yet dressy, outfit for Genessa to wear. We finally decided on a simple black dress ...with sparkly black flip flops.
"These will have to do," I sighed, after we discovered that Dana's sling-back heels were too small.
"At least they sparkle!"
"Should I wear some silver earrings?" asked G, getting into the spirit of things at last.
"Yep..and a necklace,"I said, heading to my room to find one.
"I'll have to wear two, because this hemp doesn't come off," she informed me. I tried not to groan.
We finally found a silver necklace and silver hoops to go with the black ensemble. I offered up my sparkly clutch, but Genessa replied it was too small to hold her cigarettes. When we set about putting on her makeup, Genessa balked at the eyeliner at first, but finally let me feather her lids with it. She barely grazed her lashes with the mascara, and chose the tamest lip gloss shade, of the few I offered, for her mouth.
In the end, she looked fabulous. Just like herself, but with special touches. I felt like both of us had achieved success in the process--she looked fancier than usual but not over the top.
"You look amazing!" I raved, snapping pictures of her with her iPhone for her boyfriend.
It's funny; at first I felt like I was giving her a lesson in how to dress for an evening wedding. But in the end, I'm the one who learned that people have to be loyal to their own senses of style. It's a privilege to have a friend like Genessa in my life, someone stays true to herself no matter what.
No comments:
Post a Comment