Trans.

About five years ago, my daughter bought me a dressing gown, I never shop from this shop. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The dressing gown was brilliant white, it had a hood, deep pockets, and it had a tiny ribbon on the inside so that I can cross over and tie both tiny ribbons and then on the outside of the dressing gown, it crosses the other way, so it is like a wrap over, for extra warmth.

The dressing gown really impressed me. It was very warm, the sleeves were just past my wrist, the length was quite long. Whenever I felt cold, I just put the hood up and then I felt snug as a bug in a rug.

In the winter, wrapped up in my comforting dressing gown, with a hot cuppa or hot chocolate, I was soon warm.

When it got very cold, in the height of winter, my trusted hot water was added, as I sat on my place on the sofa, having done all my animal chores, I finally had time for myself.

With my hood up, and my cross over, at the body, the long sleeves unfolded to give extra length at my hands, I would have my hot drink, on my tiny table to my right, my hot water bottle would be on my tummy, my hands around my hot mug of drink, very quickly I am toasty underneath that perfect oversized dressing gown.

As the years rolled by, it wasn’t brilliant white anymore, and there was a huge tear at the side, where I caught it on something, I don’t sew, so it stayed gaping showing my pyjamas underneath.

It was lovely when I did wash it, but it didn’t stay white for long, it started to always look grubby. I thought about getting rid of it, so that I could look smarter as I emptied the various bins around the house and then I would open the front door and put them in my bin at the front. I often wondered what my neighbours thought seeing me in my beloved dressing gown.

I don’t remember when I lost my dressing gown matching ‘belt,’ but I did loose it, and in its place, I used an inferior bit of navy coloured string! It did the job. Then about six months ago, the string broke! So, I only had the small ribbons on the inside of the dressing gown. When I then went outside, half of my pyjamas could be seen, from the top to the bottom, it was not appropriate, at all, but I had simply yet adjusted to the next negative level of the unravelling dressing gown. It was not helpful sweeping up, with the dressing gown not done up, it was annoying, but I put up with it. When I sat down, finally, I would just wrap it around my body and legs, and I would be sung and warm.              

In the January sale, this year at Tesco, I saw and bought one of those new crazes, it looks like a tent that you put on over your head and they don’t have a belt just a hood and pockets, and long. I saw it in the kid’s section age size for sixteen-year-old.

Nowadays, sixteen years old, they seem to be quite large, and tall, compared to my height. It was a bargain, reduced to £6 but from top to bottom, it was covered in a lot of avocados! I brought my bargain home, and tried it on, it did fit, but the design was wrong for me in my sixties, it really did look busy! I decided it was too much, so the next day, I took it back, for another person to snap up a bargain.

A few days ago, I was in my favourite shop, TKMaxx and in the women’s section, the reduced part, something caught my eye, it was a deep purple colour, I took it and looked at it, there was no time to try it on. So, I bought it, if it didn’t fit, I would take it back within the thirty days.

I hung it up on my bedroom door where I hang up my dressing gown, and just looked at it for a few days, admiring it. The colour was beautiful. Then on the third day I decided to try it on, it did fit me, but the proof of the pudding would be wearing it in the morning, with my pyjamas on and sweeping up all the floors’ downstairs, then mopping them and then sitting down two hours later with my first cuppa of the day.

That was exactly what I did the following day. I had decided because it did fit me perfectly, it was a good length, the sleeves were very short just past my elbows, I didn’t see the point of that, there is a pouch at the front, I think that is what it is called where instead of two pockets, my hands go in from the sides and meet up in the middle. This I noticed is big enough to put my hot water bottle in! Chuffed to bits I am. Come on winter, I am ready for you.

I had to do something Major, and when I emptied the kitchen bin, I also put in there my trusted and faithful dressing gown. I wasn’t sad, because I knew that, if I didn’t, I would be tempted to use it again, in all its tatty state! So, I had to be strong and throw it away.

This morning, because it has been hot and sunny all week, I was hot as I swept the floors and then mopped the floors, I wanted to open it up! I had found a flaw! There is nothing to open, it could have been a hot flush, I don’t get them very often, it was quite unpleasant, and lasted about five to ten minutes.

It past, thank goodness. My Husband Paul even he noticed that I was wearing something different, than the tatty, torn, off-white, belt missing, pyjamas showing dressing gown.

The new one, it is worth £60 and TKMaxx had reduced it down to £17, I had waited until the right one came along.  

I had made the transitions!

RIP to my beloved dressing gown, that my daughter got from Primark.