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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

High Stylin'

Basically I am not a person who wants to spend a lot of time shopping, figuring out what to wear each morning, doing special make-up, or fooling with hair. I have, however, always liked to have my own version of style which I am beginning to believe should change to be age appropriate. Yes, I know we don't have to be age appropriate, but I want to be-- the question is what will that mean?

What brought this to my mind was shopping for clothing for my 9 year old granddaughter. Nobody, without a child or grandchild today, could have any idea how hard it is to find things that don't make girls look like pop tartz or bratz dolls. Skirts are too short, tops have v-necks that dip too low. I don't know what the marketing world or some parents are thinking. Fortunately my daughter is not one of those parents and is teaching her daughter to be modest.

The problem for my granddaughter is that she's a 'tweener. She's betwixt being a little girl and not yet a teen-ager. She doesn't want to wear little girl dresses but it's not right yet that she wear styles for teen-agers.

After finally finding kid clothing that was stylin' without being revealin', I felt good when she opened her package and was happy with the choices. Later I mentioned her hair style suited her and she said, that's not style, it's just me. I explained style didn't mean someone else's, it meant what looked good on her and we are all different for what that will be. However, I decided later that she had hit the nail on the head once again (she has a way of doing that).

Style should just be what enhances us, and women actually have more chance to do that than ever before. There was a time when all ladies wore skirts the same length. Back then if fashion decreed a change, women followed suit-- even if they didn't like the look. Today there is no one length for skirts, and styles can vary tremendously. There aren't firm rules that everyone knows-- except to look good whatever good means.

What I am trying to decide is what will suit the age I am and am heading into. In some ways, I am also a 'tweener as not yet old old and yet no longer young. It's a bit like my hair which still has the back brown but with the front gray. Not one or the other and yet both.

So are there styles for today for being old, for not being slim, that still say vital, interesting, and yes, sexy, but that don't look like someone is trying to recycle youth? Not that I have a problem with recycling. The shorts above used to be one of my favorite pair of pants.

I have read that no old woman should wear sleeveless tops because of bat wing arms... So like old women don't get hot? Who would be disturbed to see imperfect arms so much so that old women should suffer heat to spare those individuals? We all know old legs aren't perfect legs but how many women's are at any age? So should women have to pass a test somewhere to wear shorts in public? Cellulite, varicose veins, loose skin, scars? Fuggitaboutit.

At one time old women were mostly relegated to skirts that came to well below the knee, old lady shoes and usually a bubble haircut of some sort if they didn't wear theirs in a tidy bun on top of their head. Then along came polyester suits (with pants or skirts); and for awhile, they became the old lady style. (They also appear to be the style for female politicians.)

At the farm, as illustrated in this blog, I mostly wear jeans, shorts, plain dresses, skirts, and tops with sleeve length determined by the weather not fashion, but even here, I have been thinking what will I buy in the future. Some of my clothing, like the dress where I am watching the news, is well over 10 years old. Nothing lasts forever and there comes a day when recycling won't work either.

Just as I decorate my home, I decorate me and want what I wear to suit who I am now as an old woman. I want to, as my granddaughter said, be me-- the me of today, not yesterday. I don't feel considering what will be 'age appropriate' is a negative. I am into old age, like it or not. It's interesting because it is something new after many years that were pretty much the same. Today, however I believe women are working out a new paradigm for old age by not denying it, not trying to cover it up, but making it positive as a stage of life that no longer frightens those entering it but rather makes them think-- hey, this is okay! It sure beats the alternative. *s*

(Next blog will be about an item of apparel that I have found to be fun to wear, almost addictive for its versatility, potentially sexy when a woman wants, and proven good through the ages for any age or body type.)

9 comments:

Ingineer66 said...

You have such a wonderful way of relating how you deal with life's trials and tribulations. I just have to comment on your computer desk though. I thought I had a lot of Post It notes, holy cow.
Now that I am typing this, I think I remember you had a story to go along with notes a while back.

Mary Lou said...

I gave up trying to be stylish YEARS ago, I wear what is comfortable and does not make me sweat. usually it is a pair of jeans, black, and a moleskin shirt! now to go out to dinner, it is the jeans again, and this time with a blouse. around the house, it is big sloppy but nice loungers that were on sale.

I am a bag lady at heart...

Anonymous said...

Oh, you are right, Rain! We need a word for in between 'mature' and 'old'. We'll have to work on that. :-)
It's funny how my ideas on style have changed over the years. I can remember being in my 20s and thinking that I would never wear long hair after I was 35. Now at 58, my hair is longer than it's ever been. And in my 20s, it seemed very important to 'fit in' i.e. look like every one else. Age gave me freedom to be who I want to be, and to look however I want to look. I often wear my hair in pigtails or braids when it's warm, and when we are in 'over 50s' RV parks, some women make it very plain by their looks - that they don't find my hair or clothes 'age appropriate'. What-ever! The people that care about me, don't give a damn how I dress or wear my hair. And the people that don't care about me - I don't give a damn what they think. I guess I dress somewhere between young and old - without the 'mature' - if you know what I mean. If I wear sweats, they are stylin' - and I don't and won't wear polyester. Ever. I don't think there is any faster way to look old! Unless, of course, you get a short, curly, perm. (Hope I didn't step on any toes.) Enjoyed your post and am looking forward to seeing what that piece of clothing is.

Diane Widler Wenzel said...

I think I want to wear what feels good to the touch. Silks are definately in my future. I like loose and sexy too. Showing more of my chest is good and something snug around the middle. At some occasion I might body paint pictures incorporating my bulging leg veins remembering when I was a child that I was fasinated by my mother's varicose veins. Her's suggested trees and landscapes to me.

Rain Trueax said...

Yes, I did write about those post-its ingineer :) and I need one more right now to fill one little gap...

I like your ideas for fabrics, parapluie. Feel good is my motto too.

And Jackie, I love braids and bet yours look great. I think they are especially cool on women with silver hair. I have gotten that look before though also from older ladies who didn't find me 'age appropriate.' The last time I was in Montana and was wearing a little knit sundress that is a tad bit low cut with hemline several inches above the knee. They gave me a look that clearly said-- what were you thinking! Well, I was thinking it was hot, the dress fit loose and was very comfortable, far better than wearing bermuda shorts and no more leg actually showed-- just it was a dress, not shorts. I thought it was kind of funny as I haven't gotten that look of disapproval since I was a young and then it was my dad :)

Rain Trueax said...

oh and Mary Lou, I am totally into comfort too. It just isn't worth squeezing into anything for me anymore.

Anonymous said...

I am at that in-between age, too. Like Jackie, when I was younger I assumed that after 40, I'd cut my hair to well above my shoulders.

I didn't.

I AM getting hints from my new step mother-in-law that my hair length is not age appropriate. (My father-in-law fell in love and remarried last summer at the age of 81 so I have a new step MIL.)

Anyway, your post was interesting and one I could TOTALLY relate to.

Anonymous said...

I think I'd have to say my style of dress hasn't changed much over the years. I was never one to go with the current styles to begin with...so maybe that's why. I went with what suited ME, what I felt looked good and what I liked. Be it jeans, shorts, dresses, etc. Guess I've always had a more "tailored" style and it still does me well at age 60.
As for hair....I can't ever recall having really long hair. Just isn't me. So I go from short to medium/chin length. And right now...I'm getting sick of the short that I had done in May. So I'm considering letting it grow chin length and go back to a style I had for 12 years and loved. But haven't worn that way for about 6 years.....a loose curly perm. Easy, always looks good, a shampoo, a shake of the head, and I'm good to go. I like less maintenance as I get older.
LOVE your kitchen, by the way.....just love your home. It has such a warm, cozy, feel to it. Very good energy. It even comes through in the photos. THAT really suits you!

MizMell said...

I found you through (Golden) Lucy and enjoy what you have to say.

The photographs of the Oregon landscape are beautiful!