Once Upon a Time

a story of rags, not riches (with a happy ending)

Once upon a time, Valerie bought the Issey Miyake dress below because she loved the highly irregular, undulating cut of the sides. Alas, the colors didn't go with anything in her closet, and she despaired. Here she is, trying yet again to wear it, standing in front of the mirror saying "Mirror, mirror on the wall, this just ain't workin' for me at all..."

Meanwhile, in another part of their small village, Jean bought this Issey Miyake fish-tailed skirt. Amazingly, in time Jean had similar doubts, and grew inconsolable. Here she is in front of the mirror thinking "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I'll never wear this to the ball - or work, or the grocery store, or even in a carriage drawn by six white horses. Whatever shall I do?"

One day, after several years of not wearing these wonderful clothes, Jean and Valerie were chatting idly as handsome princes and jugglers and jesters wandered by. Said Jean, "Why don't you ever wear the way cool dark blue-green Issey Miyake dress with the undulating seams?" When Valerie explained her dilemma, Jean kindly offered to help her friend and buy the dress because its colors worked for her. Then Valerie asked "Why don't you ever wear that way cool Issey Miyake fish-tailed skirt with the geometric designs on it?" When Jean explained the reason she had banished the skirt to the back of her closet, Valerie said she would love to help her friend by taking the skirt off her hands - and besides, she had the matching top. Suddenly, they both exclaimed, "I have a Good Idea! Let's swap!" And so they did.

Below, the day of the Great Swap, complete with ribbons and smiles, and much dancing in the streets as people all around celebrated the Good Idea.

After that, Jean wore Valerie's dress, Valerie wore Jean's skirt, and everybody lived happily ever after.

The moral of the story: swap your clothes with your friends!

THE END