Mirror, Mirror By Lucy Wormald (she/her) Getting ready before going out for an evening is a hallowed sort of time. It is a space lit by possibility, charged with anticipation and giddiness. The evening stretches before you like a broad river. The day been is always tedious with work and errands but now a gladness settles around you. There will be a fraught evaluation of your wardrobe, visions of your imminent glamour, music, singing, willful prophecies of the night ahead, a floor mole-hilled with discarded outfits. A glorious portrait of self-curation. For many, getting ready to go out is a contender for the best part of the night. There is a joy to the process
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kindled by the act of celebration it foreshadows. Though what it means to get ready changes as one grows and passes through the phases of youth, the moments in which we style ourselves are valuable to our sense of self. Talking to a friend on the phone, she shared how much she loves getting ready by herself before going out. The ceremony of it, the promise. It is a pause, a consideration, before setting off. She told me how palpable the lack of observation feels during this time. It is a rare space void of facade and judgement. There is something extremely intimate and vulnerable about the process of deliberation and transformation that occurs before going out. The time spent
