What The Moms Wore
After all that, I’m happy to report … it just didn’t matter.
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Translating from One Idiom to Another
I want to be open to suggestion, but certain suggestions on what to wear tend to make me cranky. Maybe it’s a communication thing.
You say: “Have you ever considered wearing foundation?”
I hear: “Your face is so ugly, why don’t you do us all a favor and cover it up?”
My husband used to suggest jeans and sweatshirt all the time . Then I would get frustrated, because shapeless sweatshirts, which were ubiquitous in those days, just don’t work with my type 8 figure.
What I did: I resolved to hear “sweater” every time he says “sweatshirt”. It works, since what he really means is “dress in layers”. Now whenever someone makes a suggestion which doesn’t sit well with me, I discipline myself to think through to a translation from their idiom to mine.
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Levels of Embellishment
Clearly foundational to the individual idiom, but not necessarily part of fashion personality, is one’s preferred level of embellishment. How much detail do you like? Jewelry, accessories, and embroidery are all varieties of embellishment.
Because I am a big-picture person, I am sincerely mystified by people’s affinity for bling, bags, and other such wearable money-drains that do nothing to cover a person’s nakedness. Yes, I realize I’m in the minority among the fashion-savvy.
Consider the following from the comments on yesterday’s post:
Beth: “A little make up and jewelry complete the outfit and show that you cared enough to ‘dress’ for them.”
Me: “Jewelry ~ You may be right about showing that I care enough to dress for them, but the suggestion still makes me cranky. Earrings, watch, and anniversary ring will have to be enough.”
I prefer to let the big pieces do all the work.
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What to Wear: Nightlife?
A casual evening out with a bunch of ladies. Why is that such a challenge to my idiom?
First, do I even own a shirt that’s not crew-neck? With my sporty/menswear accent, crewneck T’s are my staple.
Second, if I wear heels with jeans will I look like a poseur? If I don’t, will I look like a “mom in tennis shoes”? (I promise, I won’t be wearing tennis shoes.)
Last, but not least, if I wear a blazer, how do I keep from seeming all business? I want to seem approachable. And fun.
What say you wonderful people?
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My Spring 2006 Template Project
I need to go back to the personal idiom kick-off project and consider my uniform templates for this spring.
The short version: sit down at the dining room table with a piece of scratch paper and at least one other family member. Brainstorm.
Racing through this project, it became obvious that I don’t need much. I already have 3 pairs of jeans, 3-mile everyday shoes, and a crew-neck tee-shirt in just about every color I wear. Topped with a cotton sweater (or equivalent) for leisure or a blazer for casual, that will be my uniform this spring.
What’s missing is a coat. Because of the variability of the weather (it’s likely to be sunny and 60 when I leave here at noon and then raining and windy when I arrive downtown 7 minutes later for my walk), I end up wearing my wool “city coat” quite a ways into the spring. But the color isn’t right.
So, while I am shopping for the perfect spring coat that I can afford, I am going to try this: a hooded windbreaker, topped with a fleece vest, with my washable suede jean jacket over the whole thing. Sounds crazy, but it just might work.
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Carnivale of Couture: Most Significant Fashion Purchase
Style Tribe’s invitation:
I want to invite everyone to write about their most significant fashion purchase. Not the most expensive or most exciting, but the one that was somehow pivotal, or meaningful to you personally.
I’ve always been kind of a contemporary dresser, with a strong practical streak. But for a time, I let my practical (functional, sporty) side get out of control. Which led to one embarrassing evening.
It was in 1998. My husband worked for an engineering company, and the annual company Christmas party was held at the country club (that’s about as upscale as it gets here in the Great Northwest). I had this great dress from Goodwill (do you hear the rising sounds of impending disaster?): velvet top, full polka-dot skirt, puff sleeves. Positively Deb! I realized my mistake, but too late. Thankfully, I’m pretty sure my husband still doesn’t realize it.
The pivot point: I did not want to repeat that scene the following year!
Not sure how my friend knew I badly needed help, since she hadn’t seen me in that get-up, but she offered to take me shopping. After questioning me over coffee, I agreed with her that I wanted something more elegant. We prayed and then we hit the stores.
My friend is one fast shopper. (It helps that there aren’t that many stores here.) We found the ubiquitous bell-shaped long skirt at JCPenney, at a price I could afford, but we had to go to the other mall to get my size. Still, no top. Then, at one of those prom-dress stores, I spotted a possibility on the mannequin in the window. Sparkly, sleeveless and boatneck, believe it or not, it matched the skirt. Together they look like a two-piece dress.
The pivotal purchase: It was just a simple skirt and top. I didn’t spend even $100 or more than half a day shopping. But I promise you, there was not a woman at that 1999 company Christmas dinner who was dressed more appropriately.
The following summer I wore the dress again as hostess at my sister’s wedding. By then I had regained my fashion footing. Throughout the several days of festivities, varying levels of formality, I was never under-dressed.
Now, later this week I will be attending an event that challenges my idiom: dessert and coffee at a new restaurant, with sort of a dramatic interior, in a group with a bunch of young moms. What do I wear?
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I am a Free-Wheeling Architect
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Skinny Jeans & The 6 Figure Types
Is there a pun in that title? I think I’ll keep it.
Yesterday almost girl was grumping about skinny jeans being in for another year. (Be ye entertained — go read the comments!)
Fashion cycles aside, here’s a little rundown on how each of the six basic figure types works with the skinny jean silhouette:
Hourglass ~ With square shoulders and a nipped-in waist, the trick to wearing skinny jeans is to have a definite flair from the waist to the hips. As long as the hourglass shape is maintained in the upper body, the legs can taper (as in tucked into boots) or be straight (same width at knee and at ankle).
Rectangle ~ Essentially a vertical look, with shoulders and hips (and waist) equally wide, balance is maintained by keeping a straight shape. Only the skinniest rectangles (what I call a pencil) will be tucking their jeans into their boots.
Oval ~ Loose, drapy top over skinny jeans tucked into boots; that is an oval silhouette. Keep the shoulders narrow and the waist filled in.
Figure-eight ~ Because the shoulders are sloped in both figure-eight and oval, a narrower hem is natural. Figure-eight needs waist definition. Curvy thighs? Leave the legs out of the boots.
Triangle ~ Boot-cut is your skinny jean.
Wedge ~ Wider shoulders and skinnier legs are a natural with skinny jeans. Be careful to keep things close to the body around the middle, or your legs may end up looking like toothpicks.
I remember how chic tapered pants seemed when they became fashionable in the 80s. With this trend to skinny jeans, I’m keeping my jacket with shoulder pads. It’s only a matter of time.
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What is Smaller Than Zero?
As most of you know, I am not that small. But recently I have been frustrated with stores catering to the vanity of the unhealthy by size-shifting. Read what Old MD Girl has to say in I have officially vanished: “But what was going on? I was now a size 0????? What is going to happen when they re-inflate the sizes once more? Will I have to shop in stores for little girls? Will they come out with a size -2? Or perhaps the square root of -1? What exactly would that mean? That I occupy negative space? That I am an imaginary person, much like i is an imaginary number? Maybe it means that I exist outside the plane of of the real and imaginable. What are the existential implications of this, I wonder?”
I have also wondered about the future of being able to buy clothes. Will I have to wait for people to shrink their stuff and then buy it used? What about the (many) people who are smaller than me? How far can this trend go?
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Sustainability Tea Party
Jill says it’s really more of a tea party than a carnival, and I kinda like that idea (being both extroverted and shy, tea party sounds warm and cozy to me). Here it is, my first time entry in a blog carnival. I have been enjoying considering the whole sustainability question as it pertains to wardrobe; the entries are quite intriguing. Incidentally, a member of my household has a pop tab belt.
Perhaps I should reconsider what I would do with a greater budget, in light of what’s the best use of resources. After all, caring for this planet was mankind’s original job.
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