Even during those periods when I had a body that might — in theory — be a fashionable shape, the clothing was never me. Too tight. Too pointy. Too bright. Too striped. Just too too too.
So, I never tried to be fashionable. When young, I wanted to look like Joan Baez. If I think about it, she was stylish in her own way. Hippyish, which was my general style too. I never went with crazy patterns, but I did go with loose and comfortable. I found a couple of places in Greenwich Village where they made my idea of fashion. I continued to buy the same clothing from the same places until I became a mommy and didn’t have time (or money) to go into the city. After that, I replicated the same styles via various mall stores.
As I got older, there was always L.L. Bean and Land’s End. Their catalogs were my fallback position. I could usually count on finding A-line skirts and round-toed shoes. And turtlenecks. In black, taupe, gray, navy, and occasionally, mauve. Jeans were always good for between work and later, at work because eventually, you could wear anything to work and no one cared.
I still wear the same stuff, though yoga pants have taken over for jeans. Once you go stretchy, you’ll never go back. Long, loose dresses because I have a stupid itchy rash and often can’t wear elastic.
Fashion statement? Me? I visit “Chicos” for special occasions. Three sizes fit all. No matter how hard I try, there is always a wedding, funeral, or some kind of reunion to attend. Sometimes I have to go … and I need a dress.
On the upside of unfashionable, unless I get much fatter or a lot thinner, I can wear the same unfashionable clothing forever. It was out-of-date when I bought it and it will be no more out-of-date five years from now. Even better, periodically my lack of fashion becomes in fashion. Long skirts, blocky shoes, loose tops. I wear what I wear, but fashion sometimes changes in my direction. So every now and then, I’m “IN.”
This is not one of those years.
SINGING THE BELL BOTTOMS BLUES 
MYSTERY OF THE SOCK BY THE POST OFFICE DOOR – GARRY ARMSTRONG 
TOO LONG WERE THE JEANS 
CASABLANCA IN MASSACHUSETTS 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I really enjoyed reading this ♡
-Claire
https://maryclairepinticasi.wordpress.com
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I love that you’re you and dress in your own way. I think that’s what fashion is anyways…finding what works for you and what looks good on you. At the end of the day, you have to feel confident. Rock on!
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I agree. Too man people think they have to look like a magazine cover. NO ONE has to look like that, unless they are ON the magazine and getting paid 😀
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That’s right, Marilyn. Just sit still and wait for fashion to come to you!
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I think at this point, it really wouldn’t matter. I am past fashion 🙂
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I have one dress for special occasions. Unfortunately, it’s black, so if I ever get invited to a wedding, I may have to buy another. 🙂
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Wear a bright scarf. Trust me. It works !
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I bet, with your personality… You are always in teh ‘in”…. Enjoyed!
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I think most people stop paying attention to what we wear after a certain age. At 70, all it has to do is cover the body, more or less. A bikini might draw more attention!
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Hahaha!
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always wanted to do the hippy thing but never quite dared. Small town NH stares very very hard at that. But now that we’re older, we have both learned to go our own way as to clothing.
My husband worked at the Navy Yard here for over 20 years: when he started, he wore a sport coat, dress shirt,, tie, cufflinks, and slacks–no jeans.
Little by little he got weary of the clothes and started wearing jeans. Left off the jewelry and the tie. Then the sport coat went and he grew a beard. It was like watching one of those cartoon transformations, lol. And no one dared ever call him on any of it. The secret is to not meet anyone’s eyes when you march in with a four day growth of beard and your hair is now skinned back in a careful ponytail.
I wear jeans or yoga pants for dressup, whatever shoes I can find, and around the house, leggings and fuzzy socks and whatever still fits from the closet.
And almost all my stuff comes from the Salvation Army. If I dont like it, back it goes and not much money has been sacrificed in the process.
Hey. You get old, you can pretty much wear what you want. It’s amazingly freeing to realize that.
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The Salvation Army is the best shop in town and the only place you can buy “designer” clothing. Okay, old designer clothing. At this point, I don’t buy much clothing. Garry wears jeans if he must, otherwise his version of yoga pants. The men’s have pockets and are a “more masculine” fabric. Add one sweatshirt. No beard, though. He tried. It made him itchy. Even the idea of a tie and jacket make him twitch. Too much like work. My choice is between actually wearing something (anything) or just staying night-gowned for the day. There isn’t much difference between my night gowns and my day dresses. Almost none.
As long as there is coffee. There MUST be coffee!!
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Good taste is timeless and always in style! 🙂
Scratch that – i’ve seen the modern ‘style’ of buying pre-worn/torn jeans
and it utterly appals me! 😦
love.
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You are allowed to wear destroyed jeans ONLY if YOU destroyed them personally. By, for example, working.
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As Rod Stewart sings “Once you think you’re in you’re out”.
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Rod Stewart is one of my favorites!
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I can relate to the height…and the comfort. It was mini’s and hotpants here… but I preferred hippy even then. After a lifetime of having to do ‘corporate’…hippy and stretch have now replaced averything and I am loving being able to say ‘sod it’ to fashion 😉
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I remember mini dresses. I was young enough to wear them, but why would I want to wear a dress that required I keep my knees clamped together? Jeans. Long dresses. Early on, I hated elastic. Not it’s an actual allergy, but then, I just didn’t like it. Itchy stuff.
Being short kind of ruins the whole fashion thing anyway. At our height, fashionable clothing just looks clumpy and scrumpy and bunched. You need at least 5’7″ for minimal fashion and at my tallest, never got near it.
Now, who really cares what I wear? The dogs don’t seem particularly worried about it and the paparazzi don’t hang around Uxbridge!
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I had legs back then…short, but good…and platforms helped the verticality a bit 🙂 Nowadays, I still go for big sweaters and comfy trousers in winter, but come spring, I enjoy indulging my inner hippy these days…regardless of the lack of inches. 🙂
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Garry recently discovered elastic. He’s trying to find stretch jeans for men and can’t believe they only make them for women. I know. Life is funny that way.
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With you most of the way, although we did not get such a good hippie choice. London was still in the throws of the mini skirts and stiletto heels, which were not exactly an advantage when you were the tallest in the class. My mum had no idea of how to dress and now and again she had a bright idea and bought me something, which I never wore. I think it was when the “boyfriends” arrived on the scene that I really got the hang of things. I was lucky working in the city of London, and could go clothes buying in the lunch hour. Today I would never wear a dress, becuase they do not make them for me. I am also into the yoga pants, although the problem is my sort do not have pockets, but we have shoulder bags.
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Even Garry has adopted yoga pants, the guy version which DO have pockets. I don’t know why ours don’t Something about no making our hips look bulgy or something like that.
My mother made me really lovely clothing that I didn’t appreciate until long after she stopped sewing.
You were the tallest, I was either the shortest or the next to the shortest. NOW, I’m even shorter! If I keep shrinking like this, the dogs will be taller than me,
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You can sew pockets into your pants, Marilyn. I find it annoying that a lot of clothing for women doesn’t have pockets. I never use a purse of bag so I count on pockets to carry ID, money, keys and a kleenex. I think you have your own style and that is neat.
Leslie
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People with dogs find it UBER annoying. You always need someplace to store a treat, right? And mothers with little kids? Surely you need someplace to put that tissue! if you were serious about fashion, you wouldn’t be wearing yoga pants.
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Yoga pants can be a fashion statement.
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I just buy the men’s sweat pants because they have pockets (big ones) and longer legs. I buy ’em big too since I have wider hips than most men do. They’re way comfortable and I’ll take comfort over fashion any day of the week.
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Yup. Absolutely. Uh huh!!
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