In which she made nothing she wore....

 

So, this is what I wore to work on Monday.  The day after we got home from vacation; the red fuzzy blanket is mercifully covering the pile of laundry waiting to get a trip through the machines.  The white jeans and black sweater tunic are from Lands' End, I think the white shirt came from a local department store and I honestly don't remember where I got the scarf. The SAS loafers are something like 12 years old.

Why am I sharing this when I made none of it?

Because at some point on that day I clicked on my Facebook memories, and came across a rant from several years ago that was a reaction to an article I'd read online on 'How not to dress like an old person'.  I don't think that was the title, but that was the gist of the article.

One of the things that the article claimed makes one look old is 'never wearing white pants in the winter'.

Well, on Monday, I just so happened to wear white pants so I snapped a pic to prove that I surely do not look old, lol.

Seriously...and this was the point of my rant...why would 'never' doing something fashion wise make me look old?  Two days later I wore doubleknit pants with a striped t-shirt and a knit cardigan (all made by moi, btw)....did my white pants on Monday negate the fuddiduddiness of the home sewn knits?

Now, there are some things that I agree will make me look less than my best...wearing clothes that don't fit, or that are faded, pilled or otherwise worn looking, or reveal the bumps and bulges a little too literally...but to say that 'never' doing something will result in me looking better or worse on any given day is just a little far fetched.

I wore the white pants because it made me happy.  Also because, well, laundry, lol.

Which I need to hasten off to begin. Planning to start construction on the planned wardrobe this weekend...crossing my fingers it happens! 

Trip Coming Up...

As part of the whole transition thing I've been walking through (I've only referenced it here...the bones of the story are over on the other blog), I've got the opportunity to spend a week at Rita Springer's DIVE school (no, it doesn't involve large bodies of water; it's a week-long worship intensive).

It's something I've wanted to do since I first heard about it something like 6 years ago, but I didn't have the time or the resources to do it. But, since I'm not teaching teens at the moment, I have the time, and I had some Christmas money that had not yet been spent and My Sweet Babboo had some Frequent Flyer points available and...so, I'm going.

All the deep introspective details will be dealt with over on Beer Lahai Roi; here, I'm going to be practical.

I want to pack a week's wardrobe in a carry on bag.

I am not a traveler, truth be told.  Last time I took a plane trip it was 1999.  I'm not even sure I know how to do it anymore.

I'll learn.

Anyway, this is where the wardrobe concept comes into play.  Can I really and truly put enough stuff in a small bag to get me through a week?

It helps that this is not a fancy event; we won't be doing much that requires a range of gear.  Casual is the word.

Oh, yeah, it's in Dallas, so I don't have to worry about it being cold.

So, I'm thinking I'll pack black and gray and a few brights that will work with them.  Take my grey denim jacket and wear one of my knit cardis.  One pair of pants on the body and three more in the bag.  6 knit t's.  Necessary underpinnings; shoes and socks on the plane and sandals in the bag. PJs.

I don't know if I'll have time to sew any new anything before I go...it's in just two weeks...so it's going to be a little bit of a personal challenge to see if all the wardrobe-thinking I've been doing is going to pay off with a workable travel wardrobe.

Woo Hoo!

Time for a change...

But maybe not a HUGE change...

Before:

 I was really waffling on the whole hair thing.  This has pretty much been the style for the last 2ish years, and I did basically like it...but it was hot and heavy and I just wanted something lighter.

So a trip to the hairdressers left a pile of hair on the floor:

And I've got a new 'do!

 

I think this is kinda similar to a haircut I had about 6 or 7 years ago...she took off about 4" of length but whacked a BUNCH out of the heft of it with the thinning shears and razor.  It feels SO much lighter...

Style Musings

Still no sewing happening.  I've hit a brick wall and come to the conclusion that I've just got to do some sorting and reorganizing of the house in general before I'm going to feel like I'm free to sew again.  It's been almost 8 months since The Artist moved out and left a sort-of empty bedroom, which has been used for guests a couple of times but is basically unused.  The Flute Player may be moving into it shortly...although her brother has made noises about preferring to move into that room, as it is painted a more masculine color than the room he is currently occupying.  I told them to have a discussion and come to an agreement as to who is going into what bedroom, 'cause I need to move at least SOME of my sewing gear...the part that was out in the sun room prior to the no-end-in-sight renovations that had to be done out there... into the leftover bedroom.  It is just randomly spread around the whole main living area and I have GOT to get it OUT before I try to make the house look all Christmassy.  I was hoping to get the moving done before Thanksgiving, but unless something miraculous happens next week it doesn't look like it's going to happen.  So we may be moving things on Thanksgiving weekend.  We'll see.

Anyway, in my not-sewing state, I'm reading blogs and looking at projects and considering what I'm going to do once the atmosphere shifts and I can get creative again.

And in the course of all of this, I find myself wondering if I have a personal style; something I can sort of use for my cornerstone of creating.  I've been less tossed by the winds of fashion in the last few years than I was when I was younger, but I still don't think I have a handle on what my style should be.

I cruised through the last couple of years of Choir Wardrobe posts, just kind of looking at the lines and the silhouettes and trying to decide what looks good and what doesn't.   Of course, that is rather limited, based on the fact that we wear jeans in choir pretty much all the time, but I did see some things

The first conclusion that I came to is that I need to decide what I should do with my hair.  The hairstyles are all OVER the place; mostly just looking frazzled, no matter what I did with it.  But I may not be entirely objective on this, as I have been frustrated with my hair for pretty much my entire post-adolescent life.   I have a friend who is a very sharp lady, about the same age as me, who has had basically the same hairstyle since I first met her about 8 years ago.  It's striking on her, but I don't know if I could keep the same hair...no matter how flattering...year in and year out.  I don't know if that is because I get bored easily or if I really just don't have a good idea of what I should look like...I haven't found my definitive style yet.

The second thing I saw I will mention and then go on...I need to lose 20 pounds.  Got a good start on it this year, then I got sidelined somehow and the weight crept back.  I know what I need to do...just gotta do it.

I noticed a couple of my wardrobe pieces need to Go Away...they're not flattering in ANY of the photos in which I am wearing them.  Several pieces looked really good before the post-menopausal weight gain (see the previous paragraph) but look kinda skimpy now.  I need to consider remaking them a size or two up.  Because even if I lose 20 lbs., it's not gonna happen overnight.

My last absolute conclusion is that I look better in dresses than I do in blue jeans. ;-)

I'm sure I'll have more to say on this...since I'm thinking way  more than I'm sewing...but that's probably enough for one go.