exploring style through the camera's eye

I rediscovered my clothes this past week.

Here are a few of the things I have worn over the past few days. Only the gray corduroy pants were in the suitcase I packed last December.  If I had realized how long it would actually take me to get to my own things, I might have packed a little differently.

 

I have noticed a few things.  First I still don't have a full length mirror in the house, for various reasons, and although I will eventually get at least one, at the moment it seems to suit me to not check how I look.  When I had a mirror, I spent too  much time wondering if something looked right.  Now I can see enough to see if there is some gross fitting problem (head to mid thigh) and I can tell how my clothes feel on and that seems to be enough.  I see my clothes.  I think of how I would like to wear them and I put them on.  I have started taking photos in lieu of the mirror, but often by the time I actually get around to looking at the photos I took, the day is over and it is too late to change anything.  Although I am not always happy with the results, it seems that I fret less over my perceived imperfections becaues it is too late to do anything about it anyway.  Besides, if my goal is to have a wardrobe of only clothes I love and which play well together without huge amounts of fretting on my part, this seems as good a technique for finding the winners as any.

 

The blouse and skirt were worn to two different choral concerts.  When I wore the blouse out with the corded wrap belt I was overdressed, although I felt very casual. It was an evening concert and I took the small blue clutch  (1998 or 1999) shown, only to learn that most of the audience wore jeans and fleece vests and carried big bulky daytime satchels.   The picture in the bathroom mirror captures how I felt in the outfit (sleek and sinuous), the full-length photo how I actually looked, which is actually better than I had feared (not sinuous but not so bad either).  For the second concert, when I wore the blouse simply tucked in with a belt. I was slightly underdressed for the audience but felt perfectly at home.  I liked the simplicity and the structure, and the truth is that I could live in outfits like this, a simple blouse or sweater and skirt or tailored pants.  

 

Running errands after church and before concert, I simiply switched out the blue skirt for the beige jeans and the pumps for flats.  Truthfully I felt kind of dumpy, even before I looked at the photos, whereas I had felt very sleek and accomplished the day before wearing the same jeans with the checked tunic (one of my spring Lafayette 148NY purchases). I was surprised to see that the jeans and tunic looked better when I wore the jeans rolled up above my ankles rather than long, something I thought would make my short-for-my-height legs look even stumpier.  The fact that the checked tunic is cut in an a-line rather than straight also probably helped, but I believeI could make the purple blouse work with different accessorries. 

 

The gray outfit with the pinky-beige sweater is something I love even though tying the cardigan at my hips probably does nothing for my middle-aged tummy.  Oh well, the fit my spirit anyway and spirit trumps tummy any day.  These pieces have moved to the "keeper" end of the closet. 

 

There are a few things still in boxes, primarily a few shoes and handbags.  I don't have room for them on the very few shelves although I think I can accommodate them by moving knitted wool scarves and shawls and the heavier sweaters to another closet for the short term, until I at least make another pass at sorting what I have, need, love and want to keep.  After that, I can do the necessary accounting and design a new closet system that will actually work with what we have, which in my case will probably always include too many shoes and sweaters.

 

If you want to see more posts from women who probably have much better control of their closets than I, head on over to Visible Monday.

Comments

[materfamilias]

I love this array of looks -- especially enjoy the photo of you at the staircase in the checked tunic -- get even more sense of your delightful personality in that smile.
That purple blouse looks crazily useful -- can't believe it tucks in so neatly and yet can give that gorgeous full coverage as a tunic. That's one you made?
Your thoughts on mirrors and photographs reflects something of what I'm posting today for Visible Monday -- as I discover at the end of a day that I looked much less polished than I'd felt. You, on the other hand, look great in all of these, truly!

[Mardel]

Thank you, Frances, for the lovely compliment and for reminding me that I forgot to link to Visible Monday.  I was surprised the blouse looked so good tucked in too.  But not a single thing made by me.  The blouse is Ralph Lauren picked up during Last Call at Neiman Marcus.  The color is too good for me to turn down something like this, but I have several things I can see myself copying.

[RoseAG]

I like the mauve sweater.

The rolled up pants for casual wear give off a happy vibe. I associate them with girls from 1950s musicals.

[Terri]

I love the blue tunic and how versatile it is.

[Mardel]

Thank you Rose and Terri

[Sz]

Love the purple/blue blouse. It looks so bright and fresh. Spring on the horizon! Settling into a new home! Life starting up after the turmoil of moving.

Looks great on you!

[Mardel]

Thanks Sz,

[LPC]

The checkered shirt with the captoe flats is my favorite combo. That said, it's really nice to see so many pictures of you. Feels like a party.

[Mardel]

Lisa, that is my favorite combo as well.  It seems just so perfect that I want to wear it every day, like I did when I was a small child.  

[Susan Tiner]

Like Lisa, I like the checkered top with the captoe flats best. And you look the most relaxed and happy in those two photos. I can see why you'd like to wear that outfit every day.

[Love Crop Tops]

It's always difficult as a women over 40 find clothes that are flattering and age appropriate.

It's all about trial and error.

[black jeans for women]

The blue tunic looks perfect!

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