The other night I went out to yet another 40th (I did get babysitting in the end) and the invitation said to dress fabulously. I hardly need an invitation to dress up and it was the perfect opportunity to wear a new purchase of mine, my beautiful pure wool pink long frock. I say frock because to me it is more a frock than a dress. I’m not really sure why but I think a dress is something more modern and ordinary, whereas a frock is something more out of the ordinary that you wouldn’t really see lots of people wear.
Anyway, I had a few positive comments about it which I wasn’t expecting. The frock did make me feel really good as it’s pretty and it is really flattering.
But I was up dancing later on and this woman said to me, ‘You’re brave for wearing a long dress.’ I was too surprised by this comment to ask her why so I just let it go.
It’s got me thinking though about what a person wears defining who they are. As I mentioned above I like wearing different things. I am by no means whatsoever a fashion slave. That is, I don’t go to the shops at the beginning of the season and buy up a large amount of the latest fashion. For one when the new season’s clothes come out it is the wrong time of year to wear them. Another reason is I don’t have the income to support buying a large amount of clothes twice or more a year. Yet another reason is that the ‘latest’ fashions are usually more suited to size 8, 18 year olds than a late 30’s woman.
I like trawling around op shops as a category on this weblog demonstrates, and most of what I buy, I wear. Some of my favourite items of clothing were home made at least ten years ago. They are made for a woman’s shape and they are more than likely a one off and they haven’t fallen apart yet so all I might have to do is sew on a button or stitch up a seam.
I like having lots of different clothes to wear and by shopping for secondhand clothes I am able to do this. An aside. I went to a clothes sale about ten years ago and saw a purple leather coat that when I tried it on came down to my knees. I didn’t really need another coat but it was purple and it fit and it was $2.50. How could I not have it. Now, to buy that new in the shops if I could find such a thing would have cost me a lot more than that. Even now in some secondhand shops it would cost a lot more than that as secondhand, or should I say retro, is in.
I’ve digressed though. So I’ve passed the stage where I have to buy and wear new clothes. Who said that a hem has to come just below your knees? Who said that lime green polyester flares are a bit kitsch? Who said that if you go to this particular bar that you have to wear this type of clothing? People who are too scared to stand out a bit in the crowd, that’s who? Not me, nup! Most of the time I fit in with the crowd but sometimes I want to stand out a bit and be recognised for the person that I am and not JJ’s mother, or a colleague or someone’s friend.
If you wanna see a plethora of polyester, a full-on amount of fabulous (or frightful) frocks and some salacious safari suits, see the safarisuit website. You might even find me.
