March 2022 SOLC–Day 18
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I’ve never been a big one for “fancy” dress. I don’t even recall playing dress-up as a child. Certainly, I admired Cinderella’s ball gown, but I don’t think I ever spent much time envisioning my own. Fashion has never been my thing.

In one of my earliest memories, though, I’m drawing a princess with my neighbor. We’re at her house, I think, though that’s more a feeling than a certainty. I do remember clenching the crayon in my fist, slowly drawing the triangle dress, the circle for the head. Then, after a short pause, I regripping and drawing the definitive triangle to sit firmly on my princess’s head. That simple symbol made a declaration. This was no mere girl. This was a princess!

Now I wonder– when did royalty wear such head gear? Did they ever? How did I even know about it? Had my neighbor friend, older than I and wiser in the ways of the world, taught me?

I suspect even then I knew that my drawing talents weren’t sufficient without some heavy-handed clues to guide the viewer. Those triangles were so simple. So satisfying. A neat little princess label. Nothing fancy. But it worked.