Dressed for Success

Spring is here officially, which means it’s almost time to stow away our heavy winter garments and pull out the lightweight ones. And, at this season in my life, dressing for success becomes a bit of a challenge.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

I’m beginning to reach the age when people say, “I base my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch.”

I have often wondered if fashion designers have a vendetta against women: shoes with heels so high you either get altitude sickness or break an ankle climbing steps. Thick sweaters and hoodies in the summer time. All to impress people we don’t even like.

And then there is the matter of hair styles. In those long-ago days of my youth, people wanted to look as perfect as possible. That meant they actually combed their hair. Nowadays people are into the wild-and-windblown look—which helps if you have to leave home in a hurry. I must be out of sync because I still (gasp!) brush my hair every day.

Dressing for success at church is a story in itself. If the devil can’t get us bursting with pride, he will do the opposite and take away all our self-respect. To my age bracket, that would amount to the fashion faux pas of wearing jeans for dressy occasions.

I used to tell my sons, “If you were invited to the governor’s mansion for a special occasion, would you show up wearing jeans and a t-shirt? Then why show up at church to worship the Creator of the universe, wearing jeans and a t-shirt?!” I guess I’m out of sync there too.

As for trying to squeeze into size four dresses when you are a size ten, well, just back up to a three-way mirror outside the dressing room, and see what others have to look at. Humorist Dave Barry says, “The leading cause of death among fashion models is falling through street grates.” I wonder why people want to look like anorexic fashion models.

Once, when learning I was having professional photos taken for this blog, my daughter dryly commented, “Mom—let me choose your outfit. Everything you wear is so frumpy!”

What—all because I can bend over in my clothes without ripping the seams and needing gastric bypass surgery???

So, how shall we dress for success this spring? I'm going for what doesn't itch.

How about you? Any spring fashion advice for those between age brackets? Feel free to comment below.