On The Podium

I had the privilege and opportunity to appear as a conductor in a master chorale concert.  This was my debut as a conductor of chorale and orchestra.  About a month before, I mulled over an appropriate outfit to wear.  I didn’t want to wear a tuxedo like a man.  I thought bare arms would be inappropriate but something frilly on waving my arms would look silly.

One evening we attended a piano concert and the pianist walked out with the perfect outfit.  I could see myself in it.  It was a black and white “tuxedo looking” outfit of a skirt and a vest with a long sleeve white blouse.

This was back in the day before petite clothing was readily available.  Sew-it-yourself was the solution to the size problem.

sewing kitFirst challenge:  Could I sew it and did I have time to do so?  I had a black velvet skirt I had made three years ago that would be perfect but to find the matching velvet for the vest top would be almost impossible as the dye lot would be old and velvet was especially finicky.  I traipsed through several local fabric stores and was told it would be impossible to match a dye lot of 3 years ago.  With the skirt in hand, I went to an old store and was invited to look around with no guarantees.  I found a piece of black velvet that matched perfectly.  What were the chances!  I sewed a matching vest.

Second challenge:  Now to find the appropriate blouse in my size, a two.  I tried several stores and nothing was right.  It was either the wrong style, nothing in my size, or much too expensive.  I finally decided I would one last store. If I could not find something appropriate, I would have to sew it.  I really didn’t want to sew as it would be time consuming.  As I walked into the store’s junior department, the perfect white blouse was hanging on display, in my size, in my price range!

The night of the performance, many of the chorale members commented how my outfit was perfect for the occasion.  How was I able to find something in my size?!

My Provider gives the “perfect fit” in all ways.