When I got my first office job, I was thrilled that I had ample opportunity to dress Melrose Place style. I loved wearing suits, tailored clothes and high heeled shoes. Once I became a stay-at-home mom my fashion sense faded along with my old pair of blue jeans which are now practically white. Actually the jeans I was wearing for a while were my mom's cast offs. (Bet you didn't know that, Chris.)
Now that I am finally back at pre-pregnancy weight albeit my shape is not what it used to be, I can now fit into my old clothes comfortably. My usual look is a plain collarless knit shirt, long or short depending on the season, and a pair of jeans with plain flats or sneakers. I wear these for practicality, economy and comfort. That’s my personal mission statement and how I roll. I don’t see the need to wear the latest style mainly because there is no pressure to dress to impress. Dry clean only clothing with heels doesn’t work well at the playground or when doing chores around the house. Most stay-at-home moms know what I’m talking about. (Don’t you?!) The hair gets put in a ponytail, maybe makeup and a matching top with bottoms and sensible shoes.
It is this mindset that drives my mom and my sister up a wall, especially when I have an event to go to. I admit that when I open my closet door, there isn’t much in there that is eye catching. When Alan’s company holiday party approaches, I venture to discount department stores to see what the latest fashion statements are. This year I had a double whammy – high school reunion and a holiday party. Oh boy!
My game plan was to visit the discount department stores to see what I could find. If nothing turned up, begrudgingly off to Macy’s and the mall where I was sure to put a dent in my wallet. I was pleased when I found the sleeveless sequined shirt in my size right off the bat. I grabbed it and moved on to find something to put over it as well as other outfit options. My heart skipped two beats when I saw the portrait collared fitted jacket. Next to it was a fully sequined dress or tunic. I grabbed them too along with a pair of leggings. I felt like I was reliving my childhood playing dress up. Before going into the fitting rooms a.k.a The Evil Rooms of Stark Truth, I grabbed some heels so I could get an idea of the full dressed up look.
When I put on the sequined tunic, it seemed to be a little too long to put the leggings underneath so just put on the heels and with a deep breath hoped that I could summon the look of Marilyn Monroe, brunette style. Let’s just say that the dress would have been a definite yes fifteen years ago and leave it at that. I told this to the woman monitoring the dressing rooms and she sincerely apologized as if my aging was her fault. I let her take the blame. The woman in the stall next to me must have been having the same experience I was because I heard a lot of huffing and she was talking to herself saying, “No, no, no. That’s not right.”
Since the jacket, the sequined shirt and leggings fit and seemed to go well together, I decided to buy those along with a swimmingly shimmery gold shirt as another distant option to go under the jacket. When I got home, I tried on the ensemble including the sequined shirt and was pleased with how I looked. When my fashion advisors, Mom and Chris, came over for Thanksgiving, I proudly told them not only did I buy a new outfit for the reunion but I thought it was quite stylish. This statement quickly snapped them out of their turkey induced tryptophan haze so I quickly went upstairs to change. The great reveal did not elicit a response I was expecting. Apparently the sequined shirt was too long and was unacceptably past the bottom of the jacket. I had done some quick research on this previously and noted in ads that girls wore untucked shirts under blazers. I was firmly told this was not apples to apples. The sequined shirt would be fine by itself, no jacket, or wear something else under the jacket.
Disheartened at my attempt to be current with fashion, I mumbled that I had an ugly gold shirt I bought as an option but told them it looked just awful. They said try it on. I put it on and their eyes lit up. I was so dumbfounded by their reaction that I asked them a few times if they were kidding me. They said no and that this shirt was the correct length. In my eyes, it was the same length but hey, my eyes are trained for sensible clothing and I was way out of my element here. Another reason I was hoping the gold shirt wasn’t going to work out was I felt I spent too much money on clothes I was going to wear only a few times ever. I wanted to return something to ease my conscience and wallet but it didn’t seem to be working out.
The day of the reunion I called Mom to confirm what time she was coming over to watch Nate and to tell her that I found a “new” shirt to go under the jacket. She happened to be out with Chris at a restaurant. I don’t know how but Chris heard my voice on the phone and said to Mom and loud enough so I could hear, “She just doesn’t want to wear that gold shirt!” I excitedly explained that this shirt was bright pink and offered a punch of color to the black leggings and jacket. They weren’t convinced.
When Mom showed up that night, I showed her the altered ensemble. Her look was the same as Thanksgiving when I showed her the sequined shirt – not good. This was not the type of confidence boosting I was hoping for an hour before meeting people I haven’t seen in many years. With great reluctance, I continued getting ready for the night which included wearing the gold shirt. For color, I wore strappy red shoes which are only meant to be worn for fifteen minutes a day. The reunion was three hours long. I still haven’t learned my lesson on going out with appropriate shoes. In a small twist of irony, no one mentioned how I looked that evening which means I could have worn anything including an “old” outfit and saved money not to mention the comfort factor.
Alan’s company holiday party is a few weeks away from the time of this post. I’m going to have to get my money’s worth out of the sequined shirt. For some reason, I just cannot return it even though it is the most nonsensible item in my closet next to my wedding dress. I’m thinking about reconsidering another babysitter for Nate on that night so I can wear what I like without Mom’s disapproval. But I do find some humor in Mom and Chris’s strong repugnance of what I consider to be seemingly good fashion choices. I also find it somewhat amusing that at my age Mom’s opinion as to what I wear still matters great a deal to me.
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