Love, Loss and What I Wore

I recently saw the play Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. The play is written by one of my favorite screenwriters, Nora Ephron, who wrote When Harry Met Sally. She co-wrote this play though with her sister Delia Ephron, who teamed up with Nora to write the films Hanging Up and You've Got Mail as well. Unlike those films this isn't a love story. Actually, I take that back, this is a love story, but between girlfriends and that shared bond.

The play also starred notables--Lauren Hutton, Glenne Haedley (Mr. Holland's Opus, Dick Tracy) and Edie McClurg (Ferris Bueller's Day Off ). The show consists of five women sharing quick intimate stories from their lives, but using memories of clothing and accessories that they had over the years like a prom dress, an interview suit, wedding gown or a Madonna-inspired piece to trigger their different tales of love, loss and self discovery.

Although I enjoyed the funny girl gab, I made the mistake of taking Raphael with me, who was one of the four men stuck in the audience for 90 minutes. When the cast yelled out "the bra" and started to share stories of picking out their training bras with their parents and other embarrassing bra stories, I definitely felt uncomfortable for him, but soon found myself relating to the actresses woes too much to really stay that way for long.

I actually remember discussing this topic with my college roommate years ago, the power of clothes (not just smells) to trigger a memory. For instance, I'll never forget the cranberry colored button up dress shirt that I was wearing when I found out my father had passed away. I don't know how I could remember what I was wearing with everything going on, but I do. It was the first time I wore that shirt and the last. I could never bring myself to select it out of my closet again after that day. Thus, the memory one shirt could conjure up. What outfit do you remember?