Sometimes I think they had it right back in my grandmother’s day. A passel full of troubles? Don an outrageous hat. One with a big, beautiful brim. Embellish your lapel or collar with two brooches, maybe three. <\/p>\n

<\/a>Then you can go out and face anything, head held high.<\/p>\n

No hat? No pins? No mid-century options?<\/p>\n

Okay. Here’s the contemporary Plan B… a little pampering at the day spa.<\/p>\n

Now, I can’t say I’ve ever been much for the usual girly-girl preoccupations or self-care, though I certainly have nothing against it. Manicure, pedicure, facial… they’re just not my thing. And the one time I went to a day spa (it was a gift), as sparkly and pretty as everything was, I was wildly uncomfortable, I couldn’t relax, and all in all, I’d rather be shoe shopping.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if I could avail myself of full body massage (by someone who knows what to do with all the spots that ail me)… I can’t help but think that<\/em> would be heavenly. Or, maybe a soaking tub, a few tea lights, a bit of jazz, a great book…<\/p>\n

My mother wasn’t much for pampering either, and neither was her mother; my grandmother was a woman I adored and looked up to. So presumably, like many women, I “absorbed” the behaviors of my closest female role models, and consciously or not, I made them my own. <\/p>\n

And the affinity for hats and brooches? Though I wear neither, I’ll chalk that up to some vague and wistful homage to my grandmother, who, in the 1940s, surely did.<\/p>\n

Speaking of fabulous forties looks, check this out! It’s a screenshot of an old film I saw a few months back. I’m drawing a blank on the actors and title, but get a load of the hat! The brooches! Imagine the attitude! (And since this is early forties, I’m certainly hoping I’m not violating copyright with my screen capture.)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I suspect my mother, as a teen and young woman, enjoyed her share of those same accessories. I know she had a passion for pearls, and she had two drawers full of costume jewelry. <\/p>\n

Still surrounded by boxes after my move last year, I continue to unearth objects I didn’t know I had, including odds and ends that were hers. For instance, I found an unopened box three weeks ago that was jammed with smaller boxes of brooches and pins, charms and bracelets, gloves and hankies. Remember hankies? They were often monogrammed, lace-trimmed, neatly folded and tucked in a purse. <\/p>\n

There were no hats among the found treasure, sadly, though I have foggy recollections of hat shopping with my mother as a child, especially around Easter when selections were plentiful, and trying on every manner of veiled, feathery, straw or felt variation in the local department store. However, I did come across this pin (or brooch), which I’m now madly in love with. It’s a sort of dragon I think, quite heavy, and certainly serves up attitude!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

But oh, the hats. My mother looked stunning in hats<\/a> — she had one of those gorgeous, symmetrical faces that bore them impeccably — though by the mid-1960s she rarely wore them. Times were changing, styles were changing, women’s priorities were shifting, and with them of course, the appropriate garb.<\/p>\n

Clearly, finding that box with its accessories going back to the forties and fifties has brought a flood of memories, enhanced by the occasional black and white photo that captures my mother or my grandmother when they were younger than I am now. <\/p>\n

I’ve often wondered what they would be like if they were alive today — my grandmother especially, as a woman for whom I have so much affection and admiration. How would she spend her time? How would she unwind? <\/p>\n

I also wonder about women of my age who are comfortable in salons and spas, with their mani-pedis utterly routine, and entirely at ease spreading themselves out under a white nubby towel as a stranger works through the kinks in their necks and backs, hands scented with fragrant oils. I confess, I envy the ability to indulge and enjoy. Are they at home with these activities because of a maternal behavioral legacy? Or did I somehow miss the mani-pedi-pampering gene?<\/p>\n

Well, these days I wish I hadn’t. I could use the relaxation. And spa services are easier to find than grand and glittering brooches, not to mention big, beautiful, audacious hats.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You May Also Enjoy<\/h2>\n

\n
• \nIt Takes Two Hands to Hold the Mirror Steady<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
  \n
  • \nHow to Relax When You’re a Type A Personality<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n
    • \nCalling All Pro-Bono Personal Trainers, or, I Want My Legs Back<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Which would you choose to relax… the spa or a little shopping?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2928,926,1096,5295,1449,3311],"class_list":{"0":"post-76364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-morning-musing","8":"tag-accessories","9":"tag-memories","10":"tag-personal-style","11":"tag-relaxation","12":"tag-style","13":"tag-writing-from-life","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76364"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79465,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76364\/revisions\/79465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyplateofcrazy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}