Thanks Mrs. Pendleton

People often compliment me about the various stoles and shawls I wear. I have been collecting them for years. But I owe my desire to wear them to a woman at the church I used to attend as a young girl. Her name is Mrs. Barfield Pendelton.

When I was a little girl I used to attend church at First Congregational Church. Every Sunday, during winter months, midway through the sermon this statuesque woman would stand in the center aisle and swing a cape over her shoulder before sauntering down the aisle to sit at the front of the church. I would whisper to my mother "I want to be like her when I grow up." Mrs. Pendelton was a doctor's wife who was once voted by Ebony Magazine as one of the 10 best dressed black women in America. (WOW!!!!).

So I waited to what I THOUGHT was the right age to wear them - 40 +. I bought my first ones from Ashley Stewart and wore them over my coats and jeans. I started off with three. I gotta a lot of compliments so I knew that shawls were a a great classic addition to my wardrobe. I love them. I am very careful when purchasing them because no two can be alike.

Now my goal is to get a cashmere wool cape with mink or fox trim (Ooooo!!!). I can't wait to get it. Maybe that will be my Christmas present to myself in 2012. I mean I am a DIVA!