Its Shop N Save, not your bedroom

Tags

bathe, children, clean, clothes, dress, grocery store, obama, pajamas, Shop N Save, shower, smell, society, store

 Seriously, why can’t people leave their pajamas in the bedroom? Or at least their own house? 

I went to the grocery store today to pick up a few items. While I was there, I ran into countless people I knew, and even more folks who looked like they rolled out of bed. I can’t tell you how many parents were there and they were wearing their pajamas and house slippers. They weren’t getting one or two items, they were getting cartloads. I saw more than one set of children in pajama pants, and it was cold! Why are we pairing pajamas with boots? What example does this set? 

Now I am not a really prissy kind of girl. I follow three simple rules. 1. Be clean 2. Smell good. 3. Wear clothes that fit. 

I love to be clean. I don’t and will never understand people who do not bathe. That to me is gross. I have a couple of different body washes that I love. It’s so lovely to step under warm water and smell that wonderful scent all over your skin. Why on earth would someone say, Gee no thanks, I don’t need to be clean? 

I also love to smell good. In fact, I just went out today and bought a new cologne. It is a rather nice one that I can wear to work. It’s not uber special, but it is nice. I love my colognes. I don’t leave the house without one on, and if I don’t have time, I have one in my purse or I throw one in my purse. I also use scented lotions. I come into contact with people, the least I can do is to smell nice. Plus putting on a special scent makes me feel good. For me a scent can alter my mood. I can feel fun and flirty, or sweet, or warm, or sexy or my favorite, that kind of scent you just get a hint of and want to get a bit closer to just smell one more time. 

Wearing clothes that fit is important. Who wants to see a saggy butt? Who wants to see someone wear a shirt that looks like its buttons are potential projectiles? 

I don’t understand why people don’t dress anymore. All I see is ripped sloppiness. Don’t get me wrong, I love my jeans as much as the next girl, but I like to wear boots not tennis shoes all the time. I feel like people don’t take pride in how they look. I like to look polished, not made up, or over dressed, but polished. I like to do the messy wavy –looks like you just had a bit of a romp — hair but it doesn’t look like woodland creatures have been nesting there for a week. There is a difference.  I don’t like to wear a lot of make up, but I like to look like I have defined features. I don’t like to put on the ritz everyday for work, but I do like to wear earrings and a scarf or brooch to go with my necklace. I don’t wear a lot of rings, mainly just one. Sometimes I will wear two. 

Obama talked of change and of changing our country. Maybe we need to change out of our pajamas first?

On Being Female

Tags

accessories, blouse, clothes, comfortable, confidence, emotions, event, female, jewelry, men, pants, shirt, shoes, skirt, thoughts, woman

Being a woman is fantastic! No really, I am serious. I love being a woman. Ok, so I don’t love the fact we still get paid less than  men, and I don’t love our hormones, and I don’t love the general stereotypes of women.  Nine days out of 10 though I am happy to be female. We have more opportunities than we ever have had to succeed. We, in some ways, are freer than men. We are allowed to express our emotions more. We can be crazy, passionate, tender, scornful, protective and loving – some of us can do all that within a matter of minutes.

I love being a woman until it’s time to go somewhere. Then one has to ask herself, what I am going to wear? Just thinking that thought is enough to illicit a groan of dismay. For some women its such a big deal that they have devoted entire TV programs to what not to wear. I never know what to wear, and it seems like I never have the kind of clothes I need for an occasion. Work, sure. School? I’m covered (no pun intended – unless you laughed, then it was totally intended). It’s all those other in between events that I am unsure, you know like real life. Being so absorbed in school and work the last few years, I never had time to really consider my clothes. I had clothes for what I needed. Work, school, and the occasional trip to the symphony. If I were to go out to dinner, it was a puzzle. Thankfully we live in a jeans friendly society. Otherwise, I would be screwed.

Tonight I have plans to go to see a show. I have no idea of what I am going to wear. The thought of it makes me a bit queasy. I need to look nice, but I still want to be comfortable. Who knows what the weather is going to do, this is St. Louis after all. I have seen us go from 70 to tornado to blizzard conditions in one day.

In this regard, I envy men. Men have it a 1,000 times easier. Shower shave (optional) and pants and a shirt. Done. If they want to dress up hand ’em a jacket and a tie.  Women however are held to another standard. We too, have to shower, shave (NOT optional), then determine the dressiness/casualness of the event, put together an “outfit”. This could consist of a blouse and pants, blouse and skirt, a dress, or jeans and casual top, or a more casual skirt and top. Then there is the question of the shoe. This is not just a matter of matching the shoe to the outfit. We must also consider the comfortableness of the shoe in relation to how much we will be walking, sitting, and standing.

Once that is complete then jewelry must be determined, and hair and makeup done. And men wonder why it takes us so long to get ready? As far as it goes, I am in general a low maintenance sort of gal in all this. Generally I follow a basic pattern when it comes to getting ready. Basic pants or jeans or skirt and a basic sort of coordinating top. All solids and generally all neutrals. I then add a jacket, a scarf, or an intricate piece of jewelry. I keep it all basic and let the accessories speak for themselves.  If its a casual sort of thing, for shoes, I love boots. They are more comfortable than heels and more polished than a sneaker.

So what is the solution in all of this? I have no clue. Some say well let’s just relax the attire and make it all casual. I don’t think that is a good solution. I think that despite all the headache, there is something wonderful in getting dressed up and taking the time to put on the accessories. I think we all feel better when we know we look our best, so why do we want to dumb down the standards? To be more convenient? Sure it’s easier, but I think we would miss something important – our pride and self respect. No matter what you wear, you still have to put on pants, so why not make them a nicer pair of jeans, and we all have to put on a shirt, so why not make it something a little more special?  Once you are done, you will feel better about how you look than if you had put on that ratty sweatshirt and old pair of jeans. You will feel better about you, and more confident. And ladies, you tell me, what is sexier than a confident woman?