Tucks Everlasting

I don't think I've talked about how much I love tucks. There's no reason for it; I just do. And tucks combined with a Peter Pan collar ... whoa, Nellie. (Why is this one too small for me? Why?)

I even love the faux dickey. Weirdly, I don't like real dickeys, but give me a faker version of an essentially fake thing, and I'm all over it.

This one is from Jen at MOMSPatterns.com, and I would just like to taunt you all with the fact that when I was in Florida last week I MET JEN. And, as will surprise NO ONE, she is awesome. That is all.

Actually, that is not all; I've been traveling a lot and have realized that I have a strange habit of smiling at people on the street (even in NYC where you're not supposed to). I'm trying to make a list of things/people I will smile at, and here's a start:

• babies (no brainer)


• people who are wearing more than two very bright colors at the same time


• older men (>65) who are wearing non-baseball hats


• older women (>65) with "done" hair ("ladies", really)


• anyone wrassling a tantrumy toddler (they need all they sympathy they can get)


• anyone I catch rolling their eyes at some obliviously rude person, like someone gesticulating with a lit cigarette on a crowded sidewalk
• 
  
• robots (okay, I haven't really met any robots on the street, but if I did, I would smile at them. Even if they had their lasers trained on me.

What's your list? Is there anything you used to smile at but don't anymore? I used to smile at young people dressed in full traditional punk-rock garb, but then I realized that smiling at them in the "aw, you're so adorable with your safety pins and your black eyeliner!" way only pissed them off. So now I pretend to ignore them, and they're happy again.

Comments

[San Antonio Sue]

Albert Nipon was the KING of tucks! and why are his patterns so hard to find?I drive a van with mushrooms painted on the side and I always smile and wave at anybody I see staring at it (mostly kids; they are WAY more observant than grownups).

[Ladygrande (Texas Marie)]

Lovely!

[gaylen]

I smile at the little old couples holding hands.And most of the rest of your list - oh and anyone with a big dog! g

[the_lazymilliner]

I smile at myself. Grin.

[Lisa @ the Vintage Fashion Library]

I smile at people who piss me off. It confuses them. :-)

[lisa]

I, hilariously, was one of those punk rockers and I always smiled at folks when I passed. I think it made them more freaked out than if I had just scowled and growled. I still smile at people, especially the ones who look like they hate that you are smiling at them. It never stops being funny.

[sugardale]

I can't help but smile at any puppy or dog I pass by.

[Jen ~ MOMSPatterns]

IF ONLY:- Starbucks made a drink larger than a Venti- My husband hadn't been waiting to watch another UEFA soccer quarterfinal game with me- Erin hadn't: 1. Gotten LOST 2. And Had to leave to packI could have spent another 100 hours talking to her! She's just as fan-tab-u-lous as you have always imagined her to be!Things I always smile at:- Finding a good deal on vintage anything at a thrift sale- Funny things my kids say (like yesterday when I made French Toast for breakfast and Liam said 'Dinner Breakfast??' as I sometimes do a 'Breakfast Dinner' for them and that's when French Toast is normally featured..)- When I hear a child (say 10 & under) using a word I didn't even realize they had the capability of knowing. Like 'rambuncious' or 'puzzlement' or 'impossibility'- When I hear mispronunciations of words like 'madigian' instead of 'magician'.Thank you for the kudos, Ms. Erin! Any blog reader who'd like to use the coupon code 'onlyforu' at www.momspatterns.com can save 20% off their order thru June 30. Big weekend sale. Just for fun, and is a little bit extra over the last code!

[ottermatic]

I smile at dogs! Directly at the dogs, I mean, and I ignore the humans. Sometimes I also say, "Hey, dog!" I live in a very gay friendly neighborhood so I usually smile at gay couples holding hands because 1) it makes me smile anyway and 2) I want people to know that their small act of defiant love increases the happiness in the world, and that they are safe and welcome in our 'hood. I smile at one particularly woman whom I pass every morning on the way to the bus, too. I don't know how we started it, but we have a literal passing friendship now. It's a morning brightener.

[Anonymous]

Depending on how observant I am about the mushrooms painted on people's vans - I smile alot. My favorite street smile came in Pittsburgh at 7 am, when I was scouting a cup of coffee, and a very large very everything biker-type was approaching me. Straight on. I have no idea whatsoever what was on my face. I was frightened (and a teenager) at the time. The man grabbed my shoulders (!), and then his white beard spread into a wide grin, and he boomed, "It's so good to see someone smiling this morning!"Kathy

[Jeanette]

I smile at all of your list,and I still smile at the punks/teens dressed to impress.I was one of them once,and I would have loved a smile!Today I smiled at a young man who was dressed very fashionably,with very dyed red hair (I think we used the same brand of hair dye!). He was passing a truck full of Alpha males who were taunting him,so I gave him an encouraging smile.

[Anonymous]

I smile and talk to dogs, sometimes verbally and sometimes non-verbally. I think the dogs talk to me first.I know it sounds silly, but hey, it's all good.

[Ana]

I smile at dogs, babies and lesbians.

[cindy]

Always smile when...- adults laugh at their mistakes...life is too short to be embarrassed!- kids at imaginary play- bright color grosgrain ribbon- A-line skirts on women..is there anything more flattering?just to name a few.

[3KillerBs]

What is the lady in the blue flowers holding in her hand? It looks tremendously like the opera hood I knitted for Civil War reenactment. Some sort of scarf to keep her hair neat in an open car? A rain hood? ???I smile a lot because I'm a happy person and there are many things that set me off. but I always try to suppress the smile for the punk types because I don't want them to think I'm laughing at them when I'm just remembering spiking my mullet haircut with blue mousse on weekends. But I always smile at anyone else in Nascar gear -- especially when I lived in the north and when I go back to visit. (Anyone know if such a thing as M&Ms novelty print fabric exists? I'd rather proclaim my favorite driver with a nice dress than a baggy, man's t-shirt).

[belphebe]

I sometimes wonder why people smile at me, but then I realize it's probably because I make eye contact with them. I don't think I'm smiling, but maybe I am.As someone else mentioned, I smile at dogs but usually ignore the owners. Well, I do smile at them too, but at the dogs first.I smile at some of the other things Erin mentioned, including the robots. Okay, maybe I haven't met too many robots, but I did meet some Klingons and Borg a few years ago, and I smiled at them.

[tea]

I smile at this post.Also like ana, I smile at dogs, babies, and lesbians. Gay men, too. (And like some of the other commenters, it is in fact the dog who is the direct recipient of the smile rather than the person). Plus I smile at cats, though they're usually in windows rather than outside. In my neighborhood, in fact, it would be nice if all the cats could have little buttons to press when they see crimethere's so many kitties in our windows that they would constitute a great crime watch patrol. Actually, I smile at pretty much any animal except the kind without legs/fins/wings/other appendages. (Snakes and worms, I'm talking about you.)Like many others here, I also smile at the punk rockers, but only when they're in singles or pairs or out of context. Not if they're in a big pack or the huge congregation of them always at the coffee shop and the coop down my blockmy face would break off with too much smiling.Sometimes I smile at thuggy, tough little gangstas.

[kim p.]

Today I smiled at a woman driving a minivan that had race-car flames painted on the sides! As a reluctant minivan driver, that has always been my fantasy--and she beat me to it!I also like to smile at little kids, anyone over 65, anyone letting off sparks of unconventionality.

[Anonymous]

What a gorgeous design! But where on earth do you order a waist like that? Is there a gym on earth who can give you that beautiful waist!!! Did women really look like that "way back when"?

[xstpenguin]

While I'm with the smiling, I'm a bit worried about the blond with the "down and give me 20!" in the background of the picture. What did poor blue dress do, spill something on her fauxicky? Borrow the hat without asking?And with the Faux theme...the Chinese take-away menu we had through the door today - "Mock Vegetarian Chicken" anyone?

[Kathleen]

Babies - & they all laugh at my face - never had one that didn't!Grins for anyone that holds a door or that I hold a door for.Smiles & chats with most animals.Clotheslines full of laundry.ADAD....

[Anonymous]

I smile and look directly at any young person with an unusual get up. I figure, since they're begging for attention with such a showy dispay, I don't mind obliging. If one of them has on a wonderful (if slightly hostile looking) garment, I lean in and say confidentially, "What a fantastic belt!" I don't care if it freaks them out. Heh!Shaun

[Velvet Plaza]

I smile at dogs of all sizes (first and then sometimes the owner) Squirrels, birds, cats, misspelled signs. Anyone making a fool of themselves. Babies and small children. Goth kids. Emo kids. People with tattoos. People with multiple peircings. Homeless people. Disabled people. People in line in front of me or behind me. DMV workers. UPS and FedEx People. Mail people. Cashiers. Military members.Immigrants.People who are talking way too loud.Angry people. Anyone in a "costume."Old People.People who stare.(throws them off)

[Theresa]

BTW woman in Version A looks very pleased with herself. (and whoever said the "drop and give me 20! OMG! You are so RIGHT!) Is a faux dickey a Fickey?

[Jen ~ MOMSPatterns]

Now I want chinese for dinner.. AGAIN this week..