First, it was a funny thing Claudia said we should do. Take the pages of a charm book and wear them like a garment, like an evening gown. Then we’d always know the right thing to say. Whether or not to say it would be a different issue. Either way, a dress like this would be handy.
We did some test shots.
We got serious. We shot and shot and shot.
We made more clothes from things that had been ruined or just abandoned.
I think the coffee napkin Tarot lipstick corset was my best.
We also made lingerie from film spool tape, a skirt from grocery bags, paper umbrella hair charms. We shot with junky pearls and teacups. We shot in a housedress my friend Mike’s mom wore when she was alive and had a tiny waist. See this? I’m sucking it in. Like anybody with good manners, I am not complaining.
We borrowed an antique linen apron my friend Amy had hanging in her kitchen. Amy is so ready to sell that house. She keeps having garage sales. I think she’s finally sold the baby clothes (never worn), or given them away. I’m not sure if the apron was a part of all that. We used it.
We shot and shot.
Mostly we were silent, but sometimes we talked about people’s bullshit or the value of restraint. The value of knowing the right thing to say and sometimes saying it and sometimes not. In which case, in the jar it goes. Then what? Then you find other things. At one point Claudia got out a laundry basket. Not a pretty wicker one. It was the real-deal white plastic truth.
We’re shooting again in a few weeks. Let me know if you need me to take anything, like if there’s anything you need to say, or not say, or if you have trash or secrets that would make good clothes. I’d love to wear them. It’s alright if they look better on me than they did in your junk pile or inside your head. I was blessed with the natural ability to look pleased about being stuck in a jar. Claudia was blessed with the natural ability to see things not visible to the normal naked eye, pull them through her lens and make them real. Give us your stuff. We’ll make it pretty, or we’ll find the most charming tactful tasteful way to show you that it’s not.
ann rosenquist fee 
As soon as I have a min., I’ll send you a box of MY stuff. You can wear it, shoot it, donate it, or do what i do when things outlive their stylishness: cut that fabric into strips 1&1/2 in. wide, and using an XL size crochet,(mine is sz. PP) turn that rag to useful as a throw rug. Colored tee shirts and old sheets are perfect to cover the carpet where your feet go when you sit in your fave. spot on the couch for years on end.
You’re welcome.