Limp as
dishcloths(抹布), they hang, useless in the backs of closets -- jackets or dresses or shifts worn in years gone by. You might, you once thought, wear them again: that fashion might return, you might gain or lose weight, feel as
swaggering(大摇大摆的) or slightly
demure1(端庄的). Lift shoulders, cross legs. You might try on the past as costume just to look in the mirror to see who it was who wore it. Some have disappeared in boxes to
Goodwill2. Some have been turned into rags. But some are draped in plastic and hang there year after year. They
evoke3 extraordinary days -- occasions for
velvet4 or
brocade(锦缎). For a while there are the usual illusions of return, but ultimately, they are painful
reminders5 that they won't ever fit, not so much because of the body's
vagaries6, but because even
parody7(拙劣的模仿) is
impotent(无力的) against the time that time has become.