“Everything (in NYC) was meant to serve a purpose. There was hardly room for whimsy or femininity. Trust me, you do not want to wear a sheer, ruffled, floral duster on the subway. But in Florida…” Cara Alwill on life in NYC vs FL
By: Gabriela Yareliz
As someone who always ruled her life by practicality, often shunning beauty for purpose, Cara Alwill is right.
Here in the city, you think of what skirts won’t make the back of your thighs actually touch the subway bench, shorts underneath— in case the train blows your skirt up while you go up the platform stairs or in case you just blackout (skirt over your head) and end up in the post. You are ready to sweat bullets on old trains filled with stale air and as you switch trains multiple times.
Comfortable shoes because you have to walk everywhere. There was this firm attorney who I worked closely with, and before we would head to the negotiating table you could always hear her exclaim, “My shoes!” and she would run back to her backpack and pull out heels. No one is walking in those. And speaking of backpacks, we all look like construction workers carrying backpacks with all of the crap we will need or may need in the day’s long adventure— which will likely be filled with train delays, tourist chaos and maybe a sick passenger or a train that decides to take a different route unexpectedly (dropping you off God-knows-where).
NYC robs us of some femininity and whimsy. When you think of Palm Royale— Maxine doesn’t belong in a NYC subway. She just doesn’t.
But in the South, you drive a car. You sit in air conditioning. Your walks are short, fashionable and intentional. You carry a purse not a damn backpack. You carry lipgloss not a change of shoes. The only reason I am not going full Lilly Pulitzer is due to practical reasons. Practicality strikes again. But in all fairness, I will be walking the conference two mile radius.
Still, summer has just begun. Here is your reminder to not let geography (as much as possible) or practicality take all your whimsy and feminine flair. Let’s take a lesson from the South on whimsy. Maybe life would be more beautiful if we, like Maxine, dressed to play the part.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 