I did not wear this to work yesterday, although I wanted to. Why do I think I need to remake my daily life into Mughal-e-Azam (best movie ever, btw)? I realized that it was a day for testing new students, and I needed to project at least a modicum of a simulacrum of authority. Honestly, I might wear this outfit (although with a tank top under the choli) to work if it was a normal teaching day and my students were already familiar with my theatrics.
I do like the barebacked version very much. A choli is a wonderful thing, ingeniously ventilated, with maximum decoration on a minimal surface. It accentuates what the Japanese call the iroppoi, which one online dictionary translates as “amorous, sexy, voluptuous, erotic,” but none of these definitions quite captures its subtleties. “Sensuous” is closer, I think: the image always given by Japanese people to help define the word is the powdered nape of a geisha’s neck.
What did I end up wearing? A gray cotton dress with soft pleats (pictured on this blog before). Am I cheating on the project if I post pictures of the outfits I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE WORN instead of what I actually wore? That may actually be a fairly interesting swerving.
Home today trying to meet deadlines, catch up on projects and gather my wits before the onslaught of the fall semester and the attendant ramping-up of my administrative duties.
The cicadas outside also sounding desperate to do what they need to do before the summer’s out!
Otohime 