develop a personal style

i’m wearing a big loose linen outfit—billowy pants, white tank and blousy shirt over it. i look like a wrinkled robin’s egg. oh, yes, i’m comfortable, but i look like i rolled out of bed in my pajamas and crawled into work on my hands and knees. (come to think of it, i think i looked more professional in my pajamas)

back to black and brown tomorrow…i’m going to hide in my cube for the remainder of today.

my mother bought me an outfit for xmas. it’s really cute and she ensured that i would eventually wear it because she bought me a hat to got with it. i love hats. love em love em love em (oh, something else to add to my 100 things that make me happy list!) anyway, it’s too fancy for work, it’s brown velvet pants with a brown velvet tank shell, with a sheer blouse with a cool pattern woven into it that goes over it, and a funky brown hat. so now, i need to figure out where exactly i’m going to wear this funky new outfit. a ha! my play subscription to syracuse stage!)

anyway brown looks good with my pallid skin and auburn/brown hair, so that and black are my staples now. i’ve been making some glass jewelry with copper wire, and that looks nice with brown, too. plus, i just bought a bunch of mica powder for my glass work in varied shades of copper and silver, so i’m looking forward to experimenting with my new palette.

in my quest to develop a sense of style, i have signed up (and this is a major event for me to even admit this) for the email for the new york times style column. very interesting to peek into the world of beautiful people, of whom i am not one. now, in my defense, there was a time when i did some shopping at ann taylor, and i have a lovely moss green anne klein suit that comes out for interviews, but i have moved from the corporate world into the world of the non-profits, and my level of visibility as a professional has decreased dramatically.

anyhoo, the times has an article about a store that is owned by the gap corporation. this new venture targets ‘mature women.’ which of course, is thinly veiled code language for ‘old bags who husbands are leaving us for trophy wives.’

well, holy crap. guess what i just learned? old bags are now 35. now, husbands leaving us for trophys aside, who deemed 35 old? and why does this bother me so much? because i’m 36? d’ya think?

i think i was happier about my prospects for developing style when i was blissfully unaware i had turned into a ‘mature woman.’

i feel dirty. i feel like i need to take a shower. i’m just not going to look at the naked old bag in the mirror when i do.

...sigh. today i’m wearing a black turtleneck with khaki pants, and one of my funkier fused glass necklaces that i made. that’s an upgrade from jeans. i thought that was progress. indeed, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and i think i’m going to be lucky to make it out the front door before i shuffle off this particular mortal coil. especially since, according to the times, i’m nearly dead.

okay, i traded in brown for black today. collar type necklace with amber in it, brass ear cuff with amber earrings, brown short sleeved top with bleached tie dye like ring around the collar and sleeves. i feel very cool. i’m sure by most standards, i don’t look terribly cool, but developing a style is part feeling the part, no?

i sense that this goal is going to go down like a ball of flames very quickly!

really, my sense of personal style is pretty pathetic. it’s getting to be that time of year where the black turtlenecks get swapped out for black short sleeved shirts.

plus, as i experiment with glass, i need to find my style, how i can say something through design. i’m not sure how to go about doing this, other than just trying a bunch of stuff and see what works for me…but i think that’s how i got all the black shirts…