Witty & Wise Ties, Trivia & Lies
Ever on the cutting edge o’ fashion trends that begin and end probably only in my own mind, I have discovered that a clashing Floppy Sunhat o’ the Day and Floppy Bow Tie o’ the Day play dreamily off each other—giving the wearer a grand style of self-presentation that’s sure to pinch the eyeballs of all onlookers. I thought it was important that y’all should know that. And now y’all do. You’re welcome.
This slide is from 1969. I’m the one mugging for the camera. Mom is outfitted in orange-and-green plaid and her curlers as she bathes her first grandchild, Jeff Tucker, on our kitchen table. My brother, Rob, grins on. I like that Mom is inadvertently giving a shout-out to Tupperware—demonstrating yet another of the product’s practical uses: as a bathtub for bambinos.
Bow Tie o’ the Day and I can reasonably speculate that orange might be Mom’s favorite color. Mom wore a lot of orange outfits. Our kitchen cupboards (seen here) wore a thick coat of orange. Our living room carpet was orange too. And here’s a secret Mom was proud of: Although our living room walls may have appeared to be a normal off-white, they were not. Mom made sure Shine Church at the lumber yard added a drop or two of orange into the paint when he mixed it. I could never see any hint of orange on our walls, but Mom was adamant it was visible. And she was sure it added both elegance and hipness to our living room walls. I vaguely remember she had a set of orange sconces in the hall at one time. Mom had a knack for making our simple house truly remarkable.
Two of the things I learned from Mom’s decor sensibility are as follows: 1. Orange goes with everything. 2. A room isn’t complete without at least one sconce on one of its walls.
BTW It occurs to me that although Dad was a bigly fan of purple and lavender hues, his hunting-whatever-is-in-season also made orange one of his fave colors too. He spent a lot of time wearing orange. And camo. Don’t get me started on the camo, which is probably the official “color” of the Wright clan.