The woman traveler is rapidly moving out of the Drip-Dry Era into the Smashable Age. For years, our only alternatives were paying excess-baggage fees for wrinkle-able clothes of regular stay-at-home weight, which had to be pressed again and again, or going lightweight and drip-dry, in the universally recognizable tourist costumes of Orion, nylon or Dacron, which if well enough styled at times, were never really chic. But in this season’s suitcases, wadded and crumpled like hasty lumps of dough, are vacation wardrobes of considerable elegance and style. The seemingly unsalvageable lumps emerge as slight, figure-skimming dresses made of featherweight knits and various jerseys, including wrinkle-proof synthetic jerseys with groovy names like Gauze-o-Mighty. They can be stuffed fearlessly, without preservative layers of tissue paper, into any suitcase corner, and the lumps disappear, without pressing, moments after the dress has been put on a hanger. Fancier than Scarlett’s.
Ample size? Never mind. It’ll stretch to fit whomever’s whatever. Need a quick dry after removing it from the washing machine? No problem. Stretch it over a lawn chair in the sun for a few minutes . . . or over the picnic table, if the size requires it. Did I mention that it s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s?
I was wearing my Travelers knit dress last week when I parked in front of the bank. Unbeknownst to me when I emerged from the car, the hem of my dress was caught in the door. Did I mention that it s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s? Because of the elasticity of the fabric, I had no idea I was snagged until I was inside the bank. I’ll admit that I experienced a mild binding sensation across my midriff and thought to myself, “Gee, I’d better start counting my points again or Weight Watchers will drop me from their “rolls.”
I must have been stronger than the car jaws, though. When I walked through the bank door, my dress snapped loose and, with a slap, sent me sailing through the lobby and into the note department. Other than the embarrassment of my contact lenses popping out, the banking incident was a minor inconvenience in jerkability. I love the spring-forward feel of the fabric, though, so I decided to purchase additional garments. I Googled “rebound rayon” and it directed me to the common thread:
Bungee.