Those Little Things Provide a Big Laugh
By Judith Rasband

If I look to champion columnist Erma Bombeck as a role model, I’m not at all sure I’ll ever make it as a newspaper columnist, simply because I don’t habitually put my pantyhose on backwards. I have, however, had a couple of experiences that may qualify me for the job.

On one particularly busy day, I dressed and readied myself for the classroom with the usual amount of care. I took some of my own advice and promptly forgot about my appearance as I got on with the more important tasks of my day.

I was in the middle of a lecture on how dress and body language can communicate personality and mood, and was about to assume a marvelous model stance to make a particular point.

(You may know the stance — right foot pointed straight ahead, left foot directly behind and at an angle, back arched and body slanted slightly back, with head held high.)

My next move was to slip my hands into the pocket of my jumper, creating that very sophisticated “cool and collected” look. But as I slid my hands down to hip level, my fingers flapped around a little seeking the side seam pockets. Panic! Where were my pockets?

I had worn that jumper dozens of times, and pockets had always been there before. I lowered my head slightly in an attempt to casually spot the source of the trouble, and realized that my students were studying me curiously.

Rigor mortis was beginning to set into my left leg. “How long can I hold this pose?” I thought. “Dare I look directly down?”

By this time, students were grinning full face, some of them giggling, and one fully engaged in unabashed loud laughter over the joke that was on me.

It was time to look. “Oh terrific,” I thought, as I realized I was wearing my jumper backwards. The pockets were still there, but how “cool and collected” could I look with my hands back-bent into misplaced pockets?

“Hey,” I wanted to say, “don’t make too much of this. The front and the back of this jumper look just alike. Anybody could have made the same mistake!”

Yeah, right! Anybody but me, that is. Somehow, standing there in my marvelous slanted T-stance, with my hands obviously and awkwardly out of place, I had clearly blown my image. I know, you had to be there to really appreciate it.

Nonetheless, what do you do when you’ve blown it? You smile. You chuckle. Then you laugh right out loud along with everyone else. It was the best joke of the day.

Moral of the story? Never take yourself too seriously. Even after you’ve read a couple or all the best of the fashion or image books I might recommend, even when you’ve done your very best to present an appropriate, attractive, and authentic image of yourself, don’t ever take yourself too seriously. And don’t ever lose your ability to laugh at yourself.

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Judith Rasband is founder of the Conselle Institute of Image Management and director of the Foundation for Image Integrity. Specializing in the artistic, social, and psychological aspects of dress and image, she has experienced 40 years in the field as educator including 12 years at BYU. She has taught at BYU Education Week for more than 25 years. She is a trade and textbook author, columnist, speaker, consultant, market analyst, and video producer. An international authority on image management, she is a presenter, consultant, and coach to private individuals, civic, corporate, government, and academic organizations and associations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Top priority roles include wife, mother, grandmother, and Gospel Doctrine teacher. Judith (Judi) is married to S. Neil Rasband, Professor of Physics at BYU. They are parents of four children and grandparents to 14 grandchildren. They love to travel and sleuth out great restaurants and historic homes. They recently traveled for 16 days across the European Alps — on a motorcycle. It’s never too late to try something new!