find my style

I spent a little money at Nordstroms yesterday on an Alberto Makali jacket. The original price was $170. Holy smacks. But the price at the Rack was less than $60. That’s still a lot more than I’d usually spend on a jacket. It was clearly a return, and just based on how it smelled (I regret to say) I think it was certainly worn more than just a brief try-on before it was returned.

But a. I loved it b. I have nothing like it c. it is so cool! I never buy designer anything.

(photo is not of me – some other woman I found on the net wearing it)

You can tell me that it’s last spring’s jacket (probably – hence drastic sale price), that ruffles are already out (probably – how would I know), and that wearing a ruffly floral print actually makes me more middle-aged looking than a non-floral print would. Oh well. The goal is to find my style, and while I’m generally not a ruffly girl, this just felt like me.

While I haven’t really found my style, at least affirming what it isn’t has kept me from a number of fashion blunders since adopting this goal.

I can just throw this goal into maintenance mode, and not have to keep it up on 43t list.

I walked around Capitol Hill with my daughter yesterday. It’s been Seattle’s hippest neighborhood for more than a generation. We were flagged down by some market researchers to take a look at some Toyota Scions, and then as a reward, we were given two $10 gift certificates for the Red Light, a vintage clothing store on Broadway.

What am I to make of the fact that they were selling clothes just like ones I already own, but to be making ironic fashion statements, not to be worn sincerely?

Whack it all off?
Leave it?
What?

I took my teenage daughter shopping yesterday afternoon. My tendency is to browse the stores when I do this. It is easy to get tempted into buying things this way.

As my first entry under this goal stated, my natural inclination is to buy things that are a bargain – “is it a good deal?” is usually the first question I ask myself.

This time, the first question was, “is it my style?” In other words, does it fit the style and color guidelines I’ve set up for myself here. This eliminated over 95% of what was on offer. Then, after applying “is it ugly?”, well, there was nothing left to purchase.

The other day, I put on my beige corduroy skirt. I’ve had the beige corduroy skirt for probably 15 years. I’ve worn it for a long time without thinking about it much.

This time, I put on the beige corduroy skirt and looked at myself in the full length mirror. It did that mostly because I don’t think beige is my color, so I should be more critical of my beige things. When I saw myself, I realized the skirt made me look about 10 pounds heavier than I really am. Then I put on the plaid beige jacket I was going to wear with it, and that added another 10 pounds on top of that. Do I really need to look 20 pounds fatter than I really am?

I took off the beige corduroy skirt and the plaid jacket, and put them both in the “to be donated” pile in the closet. I put on a navy blue corduroy skirt (yeah, yeah), that, while a heavy fabric that probably isn’t that flattering either, at least didn’t make me look like a blimp.

I’ve had no style to what I wear, to the extent that people have commented on it. I’ve bought clothes based on: is it a good deal? does it fit? Is it ugly? If the answers were yes, yes, and no, then I usually bought it. Then, there’s all the dumpster finds that my mom foists on me. Some are OK, a few are actually quite good, but I shouldn’t just take free clothes because they fit and aren’t ugly.

Similarly, when decluttering, I usually just decluttered on the doesn’t fit or ugly criteria, only.

Well, these days are now over. I am getting rid of things that aren’t just ill-fitting or ugly. I am also getting rid of things that aren’t my style. Or aren’t intrinsically ugly, just aren’t the right color or cut for me. Similarly, I am buying things that are not just cheap, fit, and not ugly – but also are the right colors or are the right style.

There are two styles: ethnic-y, which works for me. It’s a middle aged hippie look. This goes with my sort of cross-cultural and lefty outlook. The other is plain/simple/classic, which goes with my what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude. The colors are black, and then red through purple – includes colors like fuchsia and cranberry and plum. No more brown. I might not get rid of all the brown and beige, but I’m not buying brown or beige again. Ditto pastels, except for maybe some pinks.

Today I bought a black sweater dress. It cost $40, the label said originally $240 (so hey – cheap!), and I feel like I look like a million bucks in it. This is what I need more of. (Edited to add: ha ha ha I found the same dress on the Macy’s site, on this poor, emaciated woman