Dance through the day
 
She closes her eyes and rolls back her shoulders, feeling the weight of the day fall off as the kind from the speakers fades. The city outside is grey, but in the studio everything is light: chalk dust on the floorboards, the soft hum of violins, friends laughing as ribbons are tied. She slips into this pastel dream — ballerinas pirouette across the quilted fabric, patch pockets make space for a programme and a note pressed flat in an envelope. In the mirror she looks like she’s stepped out of a Degas painting; the turquoise binding catches the stage lights, and for a moment she is all movement as her arms slip into the soft sleeves, backpack next as a hand clasps hers.
 
Later, the coat comes with her beyond her daughter's rehearsal. Worn open over jeans, it earns smiles at the market and questions at the theatre door. It’s been years since she hung up her pointe shoes, but she still knows every bar of Giselle, and when she reaches into a pocket she finds a forgotten ticket stub and a folded paper crane. 
 
One size, one-of-a-kind, upcycled from a vintage soft puffy bedspread and a lovely set of apricot placemats that would have been part of your Gramma's "summer" set. Deep pockets hold lipstick, a well-worn copy of "A Midsummer Nights Dream", your iPhone and a programme. Fits S–L and is machine‑washable and dry-able.