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August 02, 2006
Is it possible to be old and chic?
One thing I am scared of: I don't want to fall into "looking like a mom" syndrome. What is it about women having a few kids and then losing what they had or just not caring? I am assuming it is loss of time and energy, so they just don't care. But seriously. I never want to own a pair of pleated, tapered, stonewashed jeans. AAAHH! Sometimes I find myself skipping out on a little make-up here and there or just throwing my hair up when I am in a hurry. What will that lead to? I still want to hang out and shop at Old Navy and JcPenny (the Junior's section!) to make sure that I am still in style. However, I find myself turning my nose up at some styles now a days. But, I think I might just keep trying things on and see if I could pull them off. Don't get me wrong, I don't really want to look 18 again, but I really really really don't want to get stuck in a rut that it seems like so many women (once they enter motherhood) fall into.
But then, this weekend, I saw a different bad example. This lady was over 40- maybe pushing 50 and she looked like she was dressing like a 16 year old. Short skirt, heals, tank top, bleach blond hair, ears pierced in all the weird places. I know she wanted to be "hip"- but this was overboard. There has got to be a balance. And if I have anything to say about it- I am going to try to find it over the next 20 years. We will see how this goes. :)
Posted by Leah at August 2, 2006 03:29 PM
Comments
Dude Leah, what are you saying here? Is this some sort of hint that I need to change my wardrobe? I mean, I know I have been hanging on to the 90's for a while... Okay, okay, I get the hint, I will loss the jeans circa 1995 I promise. Only next time, can you please do this over ice cream instead of in front of all these people? ;)!
Seriously though, I think it is the waist height that gets it for me. I often wonder if all older women's behinds look the same but I really think it is just the high waist line way over your navel that makes their behinds look drop shaped. That is my personal quest to avoid I guess, :)!
Thanks for speaking out on this subject Leah! I still remember hearing the second hand story of how one day Kristen Bush walked into Simplicity looking all dolled-up totting around the kids and someone asked if she was going somewhere and she said something to the effect of, "No. Just because I am a stay-at-home-mom doesn't mean I can't look cute."
Posted by: Dana Marie at August 2, 2006 04:02 PM
I guess the thing I want to avoid most is just not caring or forgetting that people see what I look like. Even if I think I am in style and I am sporting something of my own,that is ok. I agree totally with you on the jeans Dana! Low rise is not all that great, but high rise jeans are dangerous as well! Praise the Lord for medium rise jeans. :)
Posted by: leah at August 2, 2006 04:10 PM
I definitely think it's possible to be old and chic, but that doesn't mean that the styles working on the 16 year olds will work when you're 30 (or even 24!) I really wish I was good at designing clothes because I would start a company that designed clothes for women in their mid-20's to 40's. It seems like everything is designed to fit a teenager or a middle-aged woman and neither of those styles really work on me.
I can remember in college a friend of mine from church who was about 24 at the time would complain that she wasn't cool or trendy anymore and she was old. I thought that was crazy because she was only 24, that's not old. Now that I'm here I know what she means! I can't pull off the same trendy style clothes I used to.
And by the way, you have some good examples of being a cool mom- dana totally looks cute all the time, and your own mom does a good job too! Actually, I don't think we have any "mommy jean" women in our church!
Posted by: Alicia at August 3, 2006 08:36 AM
I think some of the people wearing the really awful jeans probably just can't bring themselves to buy new clothes when the old ones haven't worn out. I mean, you can't buy tapered stonewash jeans anywhere these days, except maybe the goodwill, right? :)
What I hate most about some of the "younger" styles is I have to buy something about two sizes larger than normal to have it fit. I don't know if it is because I actually have hips and a chest and these clothes are designed for people without either or these clothes are meant to fit really tight or what...but it definitely makes me feel old. :)
Yeah for places like Old Navy where I can wear a size smaller than my normal size...that makes me feel young and thin!
Posted by: Kirsten at August 3, 2006 08:49 AM
Ok - So, I'm older than ya all are - and I have to agree. The stay-at-home mom dumpy look is depressing!! I once heard a mom of 4 say "yah I use to get have my hair done, but now it just doesn't matter." My question is "Don't you want to look nice for your HUSBAND?!!" That's my personal goal - I want to continue to capture the attention of my husband. Now, there are those days (sick children up all night, etc.)....but hopefully they are few that I can't look appealing for my husband - no matter what my age is.
Posted by: Vanessa at August 4, 2006 11:14 PM