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And I'll bet your kids are so proud of you...
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Oh, I don't know. My son is 11--and kind of oblivious. (Which is just fine.) and my daughter, well, can I tell you another story?
Today while I was trying on the new clothes, I said to her something like, "oh, I wish these sleeves were longer to cover up my thick arms. And oh, look, the top hits me right here--my widest point. I wish it fell about an inch lower."
And the eight year old know-it-all says to me, "Mommy, who cares what other people think?"
So I turned to her and said, "This is important. I don't care what other people think. This is not about that. I'm not dressing for them. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks. But there is a way to dress that shows you at your best. Dressing is almost scientific. There are rules to follow and if you do then you will look your very best. That's all I'm trying to do. I want to look my best."
I'm not entirely sure I was as coherent as all that--but the distinction between dressing well so I'll present my best and dressing well so that others will think well of me is crystal clear to me today--finally.
Obviously, I grew up with messages that you should look good so you 1) wouldn't shame your elders by being a slob and 2) so other people will think well of you and the family (and the family member telling me all this of course!). Man--even at 45 I have been acting, in part, like a rebellious teenager. --the only way I could assert my "choice" was to NOT look good. And so it gets all messed up--and looking good takes effort, too, doesn't it? I admit I'd rather read about Angelina Jolie's eyebrows than pluck my own.
Well, kinda.
