Stacey knots her
Skeetchers — to
complete a studied
casual look for a
movie rental date.

Stacey gets a call
from her date, who
wants to make a
change in the
plans.

Getting Ready
On The Female Side

ALLISON KAPLAN
Special to The Jewish News

E

very Saturday night is like
the senior prom for 24-year-
old Stacey. Some weeks,
Wednesdays too.
"I love getting dressed for a date. It's
my favorite thing about going out,"
Stacey said one recent Wednesday,
while primping for a date. "Before
prom, you'd spend all day getting
ready. It was so exciting, and then the
evening never measured up. Now, it's
like that every weekend."
Tonight is Stacey's seventh date with
Rich — the farthest she's taken a rela-
tionship since college. Consequently,
there won't be any pre-date shower.
"Dates one through three, I show-
er," she says. "Even on a week night."
Tonight, a refreshing splash of
Degree deodorant will suffice.
Around 6:45 p.m., Stacey sits in
front of the TV for a bowl of Chex
cereal. (If she doesn't eat the cereal, she
invariably gets hungry before her date
arrives, then starts munching on pota-
to chips, which leave her so stuffed she
can't eat dinner, which is pretty embar-
rassing.)
Before she finishes eating, Stacey's
friend Cindy stops by to drop off a
tape of the final "Seinfeld." Drawn
into the debate over what Stacey
should wear for her date to watch
videos, Cindy parks herself on the

Make sure the perfume smells fresh
and the Skeetchers are laced
advises one young woman
preparing for a date.

couch. Around half past seven, Stacey
picks out her new, admittedly trendy,
Hard Tail cotton pants. Comfortable,
yet undeniably cute.
By 7:30, with an hour before her
date is due to arrive, the preparations
are in full swing. As Cindy walks out
the door, Stacey rinses with Listerine.
At 7:33, she's dressing. Ahead of
schedule, she says.
7:35 — Stacey contemplates wear-
ing a necklace, deciding against it.
7:36 — Two squirts of perfume.
7:38 — Skeetchers get laced.
7:40 — A glance in the full-length
mirror. T-shirt gets tucked in.
7:41 — After a pause, she pulls out
the T-shirt.
7:42 — Back in.
Now it's time to attack a mane of
curly hair that's the bane of so many
Jewish women's existence. As curly-
haired Farmington Hills resident
Denny Bachman puts it, "I could
spend an hour straightening my hair
before a date, but the minute I go out-

side, it gets curly. So what's the point?"
Stacey agrees — once a guy has seen
her hair curly, there's no reason to
straighten it again. So she spends a few
Minutes combing and applying her
most essential beauty product: Pump-
ing Curls, "A soothing complex to
smooth curls and eliminate frizz."
7:46 - The T-shirt gets untucked,
again. It looked lumpy.
Next is another layer of Pumping
Curls, followed by concealer, eye shad-
ow, Q-tips to clean the ears.
The phone rings. It's Rich. He's not
in the mood for L.A. Confidential.
They decide on Swingers instead. Oh,
and he'll just come to Stacey's, rather
than picking her up and taking her
back to his place, as originally
planned.
Stacey hangs up at 7:55, somewhat
glad that she doesn't have to leave the
house. But now she has to clean,
which involves straightening an already
neat stack of magazines and tucking a
receipt into a file cabinet.

7:58 - Mascara and blush, followed
by lip liner and lipstick
8:03 - More hair combing, more
Pumping Curls.
8:08 - Time for a little ambiance,
Stacey says, opening her window
blinds half way. Then she takes out the
garbage.
Finally, she falls onto the couch for
the inevitable down time. This is when
Stacey's stomach begins to churn with
excitement.
"I try to get ready later, so I don't
have to wait around," Stacey says. "But
then, what if I have a big lipstick
mishap and end up being late?"
Suddenly, she recalls a chipped nail
and pulls out the polish to fix it.
At 8:20, Stacey can no longer detect
her perfume, so she goes in for another
squirt.
Panic: Rich mentioned something
about taking a walk before watching
the movie, and what if it's cold out-
side? Stacey returns .to the closet to
pick out a sweater. She hasn't repeated
outfits yet for Rich but is reaching the
point of forgetting what he's seen.
Ah well, it will probably be on to
someone else before she's forced to
repeat. For now, Stacey says she's not
looking to get into anything serious.
Her only goal is to have a boyfriend
in time for her August birthday. "I
think it would be fun to get jewelry
this year." ❑

6/19
1998

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