It is a warm summer evening and anyone who is anyone is mingling down by the bandstand.  You know, the one in the center of town that has a lovingly placed plaque dating it to some bygone era, where the once crisp white paint is starting to chip and show signs of one too many harsh winters.  The reason for the gathering is clear: the town orchestra is playing a summer concert of past favorites, a few marches, and one or two sing-alongs for the whole crowd to join.  It happens every year and is looked forward to with eager and earnest anticipation by old and young alike.  It has become even more popular to tote along a packed picnic basket of those delightful treats that are musts for outdoor eating.  Cold cut sandwiches, hot dogs, thermoses of hot or cold soup, numerous types of potato salads, and mugs teeming with ice and refreshing lemonade: a feast for all.

As the wrist and pocket watches indicate the start of the show along with the customary squeak and groan of string and woodwind instruments warming up, parents hustle their children to the family blankets while grandparents nestle into their sturdy folding chairs.  All are dressed in proper flat footwear, shorts or capri pants along with cardigans and jackets located nearby to ward off the encroaching night air.  The conductor bows and starts the group off with a crowd favorite when you notice a nearby tourist struggling.  She is wearing a lovely sleeveless blouse, a flowy long skirt, and beautiful, yet very skinny high heels.  She seems rather chilly as she walks precariously to an empty park bench, heels sinking into the soft grass, and mentally bemoaning the inevitable mud kicking up to the hem of her skirt.  If only she had brought her sweater and a pair of flats….then she too could be swaying gently to the music and not from severe cold chills and lack of proper footing.

I have been that woman too many times to count and have firmly learned the invaluable lesson to dress for the event….not just for my personal taste! 🙂

Here are a few more dressing for location tips from a 1949 Good Housekeeping article entitled “Who’s Ahead”

Plan well for those vacations my friends and always be “ahead!”

~Aimee

Source: Good Housekeeping, Volume 129, July 1949