even cowgirls get the blues

Ok, this outfit is kind of unrelated to the book “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, however, I'm going to ramble on a bit about how this book has influenced my personal style and why I identify with the main character. Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” is a humorous yet feminist story about a young gal named Sissy Hankshaw whose over-sized thumbs aid her in hitchhiking to all sorts of adventures. While her standard outfit of a one-piece zip-up jumpsuit inspired me to wear jumpsuits all the time, I related to her deformity. Though, I didn’t have over-sized thumbs growing up, I suffered from alternating esotropia, more commonly known as “cross-eyes” until I was 15 years old. I had to wear thick bottle glasses and often I had to wear an eye-patch on either eye. The eye doctor told my ma that I might as well give up on glasses, the eye patch, surgery, because nothing could be done to help me. I’m sure you can imagine how hard it was for a child to grow up with two wacky eyes. Goodness, I was already poor, lanky, super freckled, with a boy haircut. I mean really, how much should one child have to endure? Despite all this, I was a devout child, and I wouldn’t let any doctor dictate my fate . From the age of 12, I prayed intensely that my eyes would be healed. I asked God to heal me by the age of 15, thinking this a reasonable request. I am not joking when I say that at 15 years old, my eyes finally straightened out, and I was able to see things clearly, and I have never been cross-eyed again. In fact, I have consistently had 20/20 vision. Whether it was God, power of the mind, or coincidence, that is besides the point. The point is imperfections build character. My personal experience with alternating esotropia have helped me to be a tough when I need to be, empathetic when others suffer, more at ease with myself, and resistant to society’s false claims about beauty. So, embrace your imperfections; we all have em’.

“Every time she said it to herself, however (there before the mirror), every time she thought “Dr Dreyfus” or “normal life,” her thumbs talked back to her in thumb talk: tingles, throbs and itches. Until at last she knew. Accepted what she had always sensed. She had been correct when she howled at the dance. They were not a handicap. Rather, they were an invitation, a privilege audaciously and impolitely granted, perfumed with danger and surprise, offering her greater freedom of movement, inviting her to live life at some “other” level. If she dared”
- Tom Robbins, “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”

Outfit: Vintage 80s one-piece knit, vintage 70s/80s cactus print skirt, suspenders, Bullocks Wilshire vintage cowboy hat, and NineWest shoes. Everything thrifted except the shoes.