At some point during this photo shoot with Ari, I looked down at my kilt and remembered wearing one a long time ago. There I am with my mother at CLEARYS, Dublin, buying a kilt quite like this one. Yet that kilt was a girl’s. This one is a man’s, complete with jacket that I bought at a Vintage Ireland Antique Fair.
My kilt was another reminder that I’m no longer a girl. Yet part of me is still a girl - plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. “The more it changes, the more it stays the same” - while the woman I am has drifted away from her.
In some ways we’re still the same. We both wear kilts. We both wear tweed jackets and sensible shoes. Even though I sometimes think about buying a pair of ‘manolos’, I stick with Doc Martin.
After Ari left, I walked along the river remembering that girl. There she is in a nice navy blazer and kilt striding along beside me. Isn’t she the cat’s meow! And here I am, an older woman, still I hope, the cat’s meow.
