"MY STYLE"

I got pulled down that black hole known as Pinterest a couple of years ago.  For creative, crafty, painting-sewing-photo taking furniture refurbisher like me, it is simply idea heaven.  But the bigger aspect of Pinterest is that there are virtually hundreds of subjects covered--travel, food, business, and even things on the risqué side. (Don’t ask me how I know that. Well, it was a mistake, I just saw this photo, clicked on it, and before I knew it I was on the wrong side of town.)

Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest, it is an online pinboard site that you can “pin” links to webpages, photos, etc  on your own “boards”. That allows you to go back to that web page by clicking on the “pin” and access it. When you first begin, they have created a few boards for you and pre-named them. One of the boards was named “MY STYLE”. I giggled and deleted it, thinking to myself, “Style is not something I have. Delete.”

You see, I have style challenges. I am not a girly-girl, but I like some girly stuff. I see those gals out there with the big hair and the big nails and the big purse and the big rhinestone outfits, and while I think it is cute, I would just....no. Not working that hard at it, I guess. Maybe I should call my style "LAZY".

I love that Youtube about the difference between the way men and women shower.  The woman takes in a minimum of 17 products, shampoos, scrubs, loofahs, pumices, and conditioners and after 40 minutes, walks out smelling like a flower shop.  The man walks in, washes everything with bar soap, including his hair, and leaves, dropping wet towels along the way. Me, I fall somewhere in the middle, but everything in my shower smells more like laundry soap than flowers.  My home décor is nowhere close to Pottery Barn, but is not quite Motel 6, either. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on clothes, mainly because it offends me that someone thinks I want to pay a hundred bucks for a pair of pants that looks like they were run over by a freight train. All 200 cars. I know there are more washings in that $40.00 pair without all the holes, anyway.  So, I guess I should call my style “PRACTICAL”.

When looking at the “Women’s Fashions” section in Pinterest, I realize there are a lot of options out there, but a lot of them are not made for a woman of my stature. My brother said it well once, quote-

“The guy who designed us had just got a promotion. His previous job was designing fire hydrants.”-–Ken Miller 

And as silly as it sounds, he is pretty close.  Growing up in the ’50’s when 36-24-36 was the desirable measurements for a woman, rolling in at 36-36-36 made it hard to find clothes. I have to smile when I think about my Grandmother Clifton in Dalhart. She had sets of matching shoes, purse, and hat—bone and white for summer, black for winter, and navy was for anytime, I guess. But she was adamant you could not wear the bone or white colored shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. She wore hosiery,  a hat, and gloves to church. Her earrings and necklace matched. While that was the norm for women in the '50's, I am glad those days have gone by. 

“Ain’t nobody got time for dat!”  —Sweet Brown

Then, you add in that I am now a “woman of a certain age” (which is just nicey-nice talk saying a woman is no longer young but is not REALLY old YET) and it becomes a real labrynth to find “my style”. Let’s be honest, some body parts just should not see the light of day after 50. That means short shorts are out, and we have to reel the neckline up on the tank tops. An armhole that stops that upper arm from looking like a spare parachute is nice, too. On the legs, factor in my 4 knee surgeries and waaay too many hours in the sun, and I am safe to just put on pants and call it a day.

I have actually gone back and created a style board for myself, and I have found a few things to pin. Mostly sporty looking stuff, that I will girly up by carrying my girly phone cover. Or maybe a fussy necklace.  On the Grammys the other night, they had a “shoe cam” where they had the celebrities show off their ridiculously expensive bunion makers. Chuck asked me at one point, “Did you see ANY shoes you liked” I just laughed at him. I have never seen anyone be able to walk with any grace at all in platform spikes-they all lurch along like Frankenstein.  The allure of them is lost on me.  But show me a cool pair of boots or running shoes, and I am all “ooooohhhhh, yeah”.

And so it is with a lot of “fashion”. My criteria is quite different than most women.  Does it fit?  Is it comfortable? Am I willing to pay that for it? Does this keep my muffin top from looking like a whole loaf?  If it meets these, it’s “my style”.  What's yours?