Our favourite grumpy bunny author has a new project that doesn't involve space rodents or whobunny-dunits. Recently she has become very knowledgeable about the rabbit fashion designer Sonia DeBunnay, who was known for her intricate beadwork and innovative combinations of carrot orange and radish red. DeBunnay's super-stylish hats and coats were often bought by celebrity rabbits, who were then painted by Sonia's artist husband Muncha Muncha; so Betty has been busy following some of those research rabbit trails. Sadly, many of the original pieces had been eaten by hungry rabbits, who confused them with vegetables. However, a trunkful of DeBunnay treasures came up for auction last month, and the Rabbit Historical Society bought them. Now they are planning a special display and celebration (because those rabbits always like a party), and Betty has been invited to give not one but two talks over the opening weekend. She agrees to go, partly because she can work in a visit to her friend Lucy Pocket who has a new baby bunny.
Here are her constraints:
It's going to be hot. Not Florida hot, but midwest Rabbit Land hot, which is hot enough. Betty bought a new dress awhile back for such times as these (not a DeBunnay, sadly); but, with this weather, she might have to rethink that, as the dress is a bit heavy for summer. However, the other side of hot could be frozen-food-aisle air conditioning, so there you are.
She's taking BudgetBunnyAirways again, which means the less stuff to stuff, the better, and nothing prone to wrinkling. However, she has to look put-together for the first evening talk, followed by a cotton-tail party, and then also for the next day's talk, after which the rabbit attendees will view the one-rabbit play "Sonia: In Her Own Scarves," starring Betty's ever-onstage niece Maud.
Betty thinks it would be most appropriate to wear some of her own favourite vintage things, in the spirit of the event. She plans to do some mixing and matching, though, so that nobody mistakes her for a museum rabbit-quin. She decides to pack by starting with her two "best" outfits, and then planning something to wear while travelling. Any space she has left will be a bonus (or room for a baby gift).
While a bright pink striped two-piece dress may not be a typical choice for a mini travel capsule, Betty has her reasons for starting there. First, it works with her light blue blazer; but if it's just too hot for a jacket, or if all the other rabbits are wearing party clothes, the top and skirt will be fine by themselves. Second, the two pieces can be worn separately, with other things. Third, the dress is rayon, which isn't the coolest summer fabric, but it does hand-wash easily and dry quickly, in case anything happens to it. For accessories, Betty decides to keep it simple with a string of vintage pearls and her favourite blue earrings. She reluctantly packs a pair of low-heeled pumps, although she would really rather be wearing sandals. Betty remembers an event when one of her rabbit co-authors stepped out of her shoes right on stage and kept going in her bare bunny feet, which Betty thinks was very courageous of her.
Now, a second speaking outfit, which had better be a bit more comfortable as it has to last all day (and this time she's going to wear comfortable shoes). Betty packs a navy polka-dot blouse, with a green shirt jacket she found at a flea market, and a pair of navy trousers. Again, if the jacket is too much, she'll be fine (though less colourful) in just the blouse and trousers. The fancy purse may take up too much room in her bag, but she hears Sonia DeBunnay whispering in her ear, "bring it anyway."
She's aiming for nine pieces of clothing, three to wear and six to pack (
something she learned from the Vivienne Files). So far she has six pieces; if she really had to, she could get along without the striped skirt and just wear the trousers with the striped top, but she's being stubborn about wanting the whole dress. So: one blazer, one shirt/jacket, one pull-on top, one button-up blouse which could be a jacket in a pinch (it has an awful habit of coming undone at inopportune times anyway, which she'll have to deal with); one striped skirt, and one pair of navy trousers.
She adds two things: a sleeveless navy top with a collar (it's a golf shirt), and a pair of chambray trousers. Both of those things go with almost everything she's packed so far (the top also works with the striped skirt). It's not a completely get-dressed-in-the-dark capsule, because the green jacket doesn't do much for the striped dress. But, other than that, it's pretty blendable. The striped top can be worn with the chambray trousers, and the navy top and trousers can be worn with either of the jackets, or even the polka-dot blouse. Actually, she likes those two so much with the green jacket that she briefly considers leaving the slightly risky blouse at home and just wearing the plain navy top. However, there's that hot/cold question, so the blouse stays.
She has room for one more thing, and she decides on a navy and grey sleeveless top that works with the blazer and the shirt jacket, and both pairs of trousers. One of those combinations will be her travelling outfit there, and the other (whatever's clean) for back-again. That also gives her enough options for a day in the park with Lucy and the young rabbits.
If Betty had extra room, one thing she thinks she might add is a white lightweight v-neck pullover. She pulled that on one day when she was wearing the navy top and trousers, and thought it all looked quite nice together. She also (briefly) thought about packing her pair of ecru linen trousers, but quickly decided against it because a) ecru linen might be a traveller's worst nightmare, and b) these particular trousers have not only a button placket and slide closures, but a drawstring waist thing; somebody obviously wasn't thinking about tiny little lavatories and the contortions required to get those up and down when they designed them. So, no; she's sticking with the six-pack for this event.
Betty hasn't quite figured out the whole packing plan yet, including how she's going to get that rhinestone-embellished handbag stuffed in along with tailbrushes and bunny-tronics. But so far, so good.
If she weren't such a well-behaved (though crotchety) rabbit, she might be planning a hat heist at the museum. But that's a whole other suitcase.
