If you can't afford a skirt

Don't try and pretend this works. It doesn't.

What happened to pretty?

Growing up, admittedly a long long time ago, I wanted to be pretty. I wanted to look like a pleasant, healthy, savvy young woman. I looked to the stars and models to define what fit that image. Some things I liked and some things I didn't like. But I never saw things that made me go YUCK. And as I got older and styles changed I still had some great models to look to. Twiggy was amazingly thin but her outfits were at least attractive. There was the body conscious hippie thing. There was the Thunder Thigh look with stockings and boots and short shorts. It was ugly but it didn't make the models look like boys. And as much as people hate the 80's looks now, the girls were trying to be ultra sexy and womanly. Obviously they failed sometimes but hey. It happens

I watched my Mom find double knits and lose interest in dresses. I didn't know at the time that it was an age thing and the only reason for it was that more youthful clothing was weird for an older person to fit into. I watched the hair teased to the max, Hammer time, and huge shoes. I saw men dress like ?women? and not in a cross dressing way.

I saw styles go in and out so quickly some didn't qualify as fads. Long hair, short hair(ala Dorothy Hamill), medium hair(the Jennifer), swept back hair(Farrah) and long straight hair parted in the middle being a return of the hippie days. And again in and out. And back in.

I've tried to rationalize the fact that I'm a lot older now. I wanted a jean jacket. And an army jacket. I'd love to have a flat stomach. My chest, oversized, has been a bane of my existence when the fashions dictated flat or non-existent chests. But I have never wanted to be so thin that my feet were wider than my legs. I've never wanted to go out with my hair uncombed. I've never wanted to have my crotch hang to my knees. I've never considered combat boots attractive. I haven't thought really oversized clothing was attractive. I'm still waiting to learn the reason for it.
And while I'd love to be slim, thin isn't what I want. I consider bones to be my support system, not my jewelry.

I'm sure there are a lot of young women who think the dirty diaper look is "cool" or better "of the moment". I'm having a hard time with the skinny jean generation liking the two looks pictured here. There must be a large segment of the female population who likes oversized wear or there wouldn't be a market for it. I know men certainly like it for themselves.

I have been working to lose weight. I've been quite heavy so my viewpoint is skewed from there. But I can't imagine myself, even at 16, wearing clothing that does nothing to make me look better. As I said I must be missing something.

Money obviously cannot create taste.

Snark

I remember when standing or walking this way would get you put into corrective shoes.

Amazing

It's amazing how an ugly pair of shoes can ruin an outfit.

No Pics.

I'm working on a laptop right now and I have no pics of fashion to show. However, as usual, I have opinions galore. I have finally decided that the internet has busted the fashion world wide open. I can look at fashion magazines and see models wearing clothes in the thousands of dollars. I can look at the internet and see people wearing clothes in the hundreds of dollars. I can look at the grocery store and I see people wearing whatever is comfortable. You see, I've just about decided fashion is most influential in the very young and the very rich. I used to go out more but the area in which I live isn't a fashion hub unless you are talking about those who do the country club thing. Which I don't

Young women have some very good blogs on the internet. There are some brands which are automatic hits with them. Tory Burch is quite popular, as are lots of others. But even there, one finds a tendency to follow. Take the statement necklace. Is there anyone who reads fashion blogs who doesn't have a bubble necklace. I know I do. A large number of the young women have skinny jeans, knee high boots, and tons of scarves. I've tried to find a bunch of blogs written by women in their 60's  but either they don't worry about fashion or they don't blog or something. And of the ones I have found, most are not to the sixties yet. Those are divided into groups in a way.

The first group I have noticed are women who imitate. I agree that if I want to know what to wear on a certain occasion I look to see what others are wearing for the same event. And I'm certain that you will never catch me imitating the skinny jeans and boots crowd. My jeans will never hang down, have holes in them, or come halfway up to my waist. When I am wearing a pretty dress it won't be with combat boots or even cowboy boots. I have enough jewelry to stock a store but I'm not going to wear it all at once. And if I were to wear boots, they would not be peep toes. I think that defeats the purpose of the boot.

That being said, I will wear the filmy fabrics, sequined tops, and statement necklaces. However I really don't expect them to look like anything I have seen before. I do have style icons. They are women who really want to look like themselves and who wear their clothing almost as art. They are the women who take care of themselves, and who are slightly high maintenance. They are the women who are quite satisfied with their choices and don't wonder what someone else thinks.

Another group of women are those who remake or multi use their clothing. They buy things at sales and from Thrift shops. They turn the clothes into interesting styles. They sew, crochet, knit, embroider, etc. Their clothes are really one of a kind and can be quite interesting.

Then there are those who have the money to look for the lower end designer goods. I personally have bought things on sale when they are by a designer. I haven't found they give me any more satisfaction than other things. I spent 3 years looking for a yellow Coach bag. I finally found one for a reasonable price. I really don't like it much and I don't carry it. Lesson learned.

I'll quit yapping now. More later.