The Ecstasy Of A Great Outfit

The best dressers know that the right piece of clothing is an invitation to connect with the world around them.

- Kaitlyn Greenidge

One day when I was in high school, I wore a tutu on my head to class. I was following an impulse for drama. What I really wanted was widows' weeds, especially those voluminous black nets that wealthy women in the 19th century would wear when a loved one died. I'd read Edward Gorey and fallen in love with the visual world of his books-a pastiche of the Victorian and Edwardian eras and the Jazz Age. In Gorey's drawings, there was sometimes a woman sketched in long, elegant lines, surrounded by a fury of black veils, about to take part in some obscure, absurdist pantomime with an imaginary animal. I was enchanted.

But widows' weeds are not easily purchased, and with the confident logic of adolescence, it seemed the black tulle tutu I had saved up to buy from Urban Outfitters would be just as good. I was convinced no one would be able to tell the difference. I remember the supreme satisfaction of carefully positioning it on my forehead so the rolls of fabric framed my face in a way that seemed infinitely intriguing. It felt so completely right that it was obvious. Surely everyone would look at this style and understand its magnificence.