Inspired By | Judy Garland

My birthday was December 29th, and I had every intention of publishing this post that day. I had a vision. I saw myself spending December channeling my very favorite, Judy Garland, as a way for me to celebrate my birth month. This plan, while obviously brilliant, had two complications:

Firstly, I grossly underestimated the effects of travel fatigue. I anticipated that I'd crack open my laptop on our flight to Portugal, and craft the perfect post encapsulating my month of Judy. As we landed in Madeira, I'd also somehow look flawless and have fantastic breath. None of those things happened.

Secondly, as the month sped by I realized that, even though I have a lovely, curated, Judy Garland Pinterest board, my current wardrobe isn't very Judy-esque. I'd hoped to at least have four full Judy days but, alas, I have just two. While this could be disappointing, instead I'm seeing it as an opportunity to fill my 2018 with Judy inspiration. (I'm sure you'll be waiting on pins and needles for that!)

So, let's get this Judy Garland, Volume 1, party started!

DAY ONE

THE EVENT: A work day with more heavy lifting than usual

INSPIRED BY: Judy Garland as Jane, a farmer, in the film Summer Stock.

THE OUTFIT: In my week without pants, I lamented about how, at 5'4", I have trouble finding pants that are the right length. Recently, I was perusing the Asos website when I noticed that (almost) all of the models for petite clothing are 5'4! How those pants hit the 5'4 models should be the same on me! I purchased the overalls I'm wearing in this outfit and, lo and behold, they're the perfect length! For my first Judy day, I added a white t-shirt, and my Superga hi-tops and I was ready for some heavy lifting.

THE EXPERIENCE: Before I jump in to my day, let's first take a moment to wax poetic about Judy. I love Judy Garland. A love of The Wizard of Oz is practically hereditary in my family, but I took my love of Judy to the next level. For me, there is no one better. I have Judy Garland music books, Judy Garland posters, and even Judy Garland earrings. As a performer, Judy's ability to emote while singing without being campy or cheesy or fake has always been my own north star. In the film referred to here, she even manages to be charming while singing a song on a tractor. (That song is included below, if you're curious!)

On this particular day, I knew that my workday would be more strenuous, and having always thought that Judy pulled off overalls exceedingly well, I knew her farming look from Summer Stock would be my inspiration. My mission for the day? Bulk mail.

I'm not sure if you've ever experienced the joy of bulk mailing, but it's not an excursion I recommend. On this particular day, I rolled up with all one hundred pounds of my job's annual Christmas mailing, and was told that our office had incorrectly filled out the convoluted paperwork, that it would need to be redone, and no one would help me. My eyes grew to the size of platters, and the man behind the counter yelled, "NEXT!"

I shuffled to the side and stared blankly at the hieroglyphic-like form. Luckily, another bulk-mailer behind me was feeling Christmas-spirited and helped me decipher the paperwork. We finished all of the calculations, and I triumphantly brought the corrected form back to the counter. The man looked at the form, shook his head, and said, "Nope, still wrong."

At this point, my desperation must have been all over my face. The man behind the counter looked at me, sighed slightly, pulled out his pencil and fixed the offending figures.

I then sorted all of the mailings into giant bags, used all of my strength to pile them into large carts, and a few hours later, I emerged back into the sun.

I didn't enjoy this excursion, but let me tell you, the overalls certainly made it better. I never once worried about my pants creeping down as I bent over to heave the heavy bags into (wheeled) carts. I didn't have any sort of pinching waistband to contend with. I never broke out into song, to really complete the experience, but perhaps I should have! I can only imagine it would have improved my day!

DAY TWO

THE EVENT: Christmas Eve!

INSPIRED BY: Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett, as she sings "The Man That Got Away" in A Star is Born.

THE OUTFIT: My very favorite Judy Garland movie is A Star is Born, and my favorite moment in the movie is when she sings "The Man That Got Away" with her band in an empty bar after closing. She wears a navy dress with a white collar and a polka-dot tie around the neck. I would love to have that dress but, as the movie was filmed in 1954, it's a style that's a bit hard to come by now.

However, as I was finishing my Christmas shopping last month, I ducked into Zara (how can you not?) and came across this black dress. The shape isn't the same as Judy's, but the neckline and neck-tie were reminiscent of the dress she wore, and I knew I had to have it. I wore it on Christmas Eve with black tights. (I added those sparkly socks, too, when my toes got cold!)

THE EXPERIENCE: Luckily, my experience in this Judy-outfit was far less stressful than the first. I like to dress up for holidays, but often, at the end of the night my fancy outfits become uncomfortable. This evening, I wore my most comfortable tights, and the smock-like shape of the dress insured that no matter how much I indulged on Christmas treats, I still had a little extra room. In a fun twist, the top my mom wore matched the material of the sleeves and collar of my dress. It was a coordinated Christmas!

THE CONCLUSION: As much as I enjoyed channeling Judy this month, I think the next frontier for Inspired By Judy outfits is auditioning. Can I channel Judy while auditioning if I'm wearing an outfit that makes me feel Judy-esque? I'm certainly willing to find out!!

I'll be back with another post on Friday, and this one will be international! Christian and I spent some time in Madeira, Portugal with his family, and I broke some rules while I was there! See you then!

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