A Well-Dressed Person and a Well-Written Book

School starts in a week.  So what is the thing about which I feel the greatest anxiety?  What shall I wear, of course.  I am not a snappy dresser and I truly admire people who can put together an outfit.  Toward the end of last school year I was feeling very frumpy.  I really wanted to figure out what I need to in order to be a well-dressed person so I made a point of interviewing some co-workers who dress in what I consider to be an attractive manner.  This is the information I gleaned:

• Well-dressed people buy few, if any, garments from warehouses like Sam's Club.  I'm guilty of tossing clothes into the shopping cart along with cereal and strip steaks on my shopping trips.  You can't try them on, so I always just hope for the best.
• Well-dressed people actually plan what they will be wearing.  I tend to be poking through laundry baskets five minutes before I need to get into the car.
• Well-dressed people pay attention to how garments fit.  I find myself wearing tops with gaping necklines and waistbands which threaten to pinch me in half by 2:00 pm.
• Well-dressed people have at least a vague awareness of what styles are current.  I don't have a clue in the world as far as colors or shapes that are "of the moment". 
• Well-dressed people come in all sizes.  One of the reasons I allowed myself to be so dowdy is that I always promised myself that after I dropped twenty or thirty pounds I'd take myself on a shopping spree.  I had it in my mind that size 14-16 people don't deserve new clothes.

So... this morning I left my house determined to get some back-to-school clothes.  There is a factory outlet mall close to my home, so that is where I (along with hundreds upon hundreds of Canadian citizens) headed. 

My first stop was DressBarn.  I bought a couple items and was almost out the door when I waddled past a display which I recognized as the solution to all my wardrobe troubles - Garanimals for adults!  It was a whole section of the store where everything matched with everything else! I have very fond memories of wandering through the Gold Circle department store when my children were little.  I would fill the cart with darling little clothes which all had tags featuring giraffes, tigers and monkeys to help match tops and bottoms which resulted in  - ta da! - well-dressed children.

I bought in one fell swoop:

• a blazer
• a textured jacket
• a shift dress
• a plain blouse
• a patterned blouse
• a shell
• a pencil skirt
• a pair of tailored pants 

And they all coordinate!  I will be a well-dressed person come fall!

 

In literary news, yesterday I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from cover to cover.  I have always been fond of epistolary novels (Daddy Long-Legs, A Woman of Independent Means).  I guess I like the forbidden fruit aspect of reading someone else's letters.  Anyhoo... I enjoyed this novel.  It had many elements which make for a good book - dynamic characters, compelling setting and interesting information presented as the plot unfolds.  In this case the interesting information was in regards to the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII.  I was unaware that this ever happened.  The accounts of the what the islanders endured are skillfully woven into the story.  I think it is safe to assume that these antecdotes are based on the experiences of real people. As an aside, there is even an interesting back story as to the authors of this novel.  I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read. 

Comments

[Mags]

You are too funny! And you always look well-dressed to me ... then again, I think the sweats are a wardrobe staple ... and garanimals! What a flashback! And water aerobics? Excellent workout and lots of resistance. Yay! I heart water.

[barbara]

Oh, I so identify, Mary Ellen! I would much rather be digging through garbage at an auction than shopping for clothes. I went back to school shopping with my daughter yesterday and almost shrieked when I accidentally caught my reflection. Maybe I need Garanimals, too. (p.s. did you know the average dress size for women is 14?) (p.p.s. I liked that book, too.)