I have so many face masks that I needed a place to
store them. Roland gave me one of his tie racks, and it works perfectly.
Portraits are not my strong point, and neither,
apparently, are selfies. Still, the photos in this post will give you an idea
of my current obsession with coordinating my face masks and my outfits. Since I
have to wear the masks anyway, why not make it fun? What follows is only a
sampling.
My first face mask was homemade by Roland from
instructions he got from a church friend. I don’t know what I did with this
mask after we started buying them over the Internet.
Next, Roland bought several of these masks for each of
us. (It’s really more of a green than a blue, but I couldn’t get the hue
right.) I keep one in my car.
When I finally had a chance to get my hair cut, I
liked the face mask my hairdresser was wearing, so I asked where it came from. The
three-layer masks from
www.myshieldmask.com are my favorites for fit and comfort, were relatively
inexpensive, and arrived quickly. Only two of them are shown here.
The My Shield masks didn’t come in every color I
wanted, so I bought two from someplace else. (I think they've added more since then, however.) Unfortunately, I don’t remember the
manufacturer or website. They took a while to arrive, were only two layers, and
didn’t fit perfectly, although they are better after I modified the straps and
sewed another layer of cloth inside.
Those masks did have an inside pocket for a disposable
filter, but the filters that are available, or at least that I can find, were
made for commercial masks and don’t fit well in the cloth masks made in
response to Covid-19. I added a smaller holder, but I didn’t like the way it
worked in these two masks, so I ended up taking it out.
Then there are the masks that I bought from Hyperfavor
(www.hyperfavor.com) just for
fun. It took a while before they arrived, and they came with two layers and a
filter pocket. The holder I added works better in this shape mask, but I still
sewed in a third layer of material. These masks fit fairly well although they
aren’t perfect.
All of these masks had ear loops. I modified the first
masks Roland bought to replace the ear loops with tie strings at the top and
bottom, and I did the same with the multi-colored mask shown above. That helped
with the comfort and the fit, but it takes longer to get them off and on since
they have to be tied each time.
So when I saw a Facebook ad from Pure Mask (www.puremask.com) for a mask with around-the-head elastic bands at the
top and bottom, I bought one. It is a little loose and isn’t easily modified,
but it has three layers and came quickly.
The final group of masks I bought also have three layers,
and I bought them primarily for the nose guard on top and the fact that I could
get several colors I didn’t already have. The ear loops were a little loose,
but I managed to tighten them up with a needle and thread. I ordered these
masks from
www.starks.com and they took a long time to
arrive, but they complete my wardrobe.
One concern I have with the over-the-ear masks is what
to do with them when I’m out somewhere and have to take them off to eat or take
communion. If I carry them in my hand, they can get in the way or I might drop
them by mistake. If I set them down, I may forget them. So I tied elastic
string around the bottom of the ear loops on several masks. It doesn’t help
with the fit, but it does allow me to take the mask off while leaving it around
my neck.
When the pandemic began, who knew it would start a new
fashion trend?
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