Writing
How nice that this post happened to go up. Just when I'm failing my plan to write daily on a blog.
But I guess it's nice confirmation I'm on the right track.
As I mentioned, I planned to take Wednesday off, rather than just skipping it (like I did with Thursday). I needed to go shopping for "official" clothes. I've mentioned before that I'm sartorially challenged; an un-lettered t-shirt and non-sneakers are about the extent of my dressing up. Thus, I'm trying to learn to be comfortable in grownup clothes before I have to wear them; I know all about projecting how uncomfortable one is in one's chosen finery.
It's very hard finding good clothes. What do I mean by good clothes? To start, I don't mean "dressy" ("Put on your good clothes to go to church, kids.") What I mean is clothes that are comfortable enough; that fit decently; that don't make me look too different from my age (either older or younger; I'm old enough that dressing young is going to look ridiculous); and clothes that don't require too much effort to take care of. The biggest problem with the last one is that I don't like artificial fibers, but natural fibers are a massive pain in the ass, which means I'll probably have to rethink my prejudice (especially since artificial fibers are maturing into more wearable fabrics).
However, my problem on Wednesday is that clothing manufacturers have taken to putting tags somewhere else. Only pants still have fiber content/care tags at the back of the waistband; skirts have it buried somewhere down one seam; ditto for shirts. This means that you have to wrestle with the garment trying to figure out what it's made of, how careful one has to be when washing, and how much ironing it will probably need. (I also don't like the new tag placement on shirts because it's usually right at the waist: prime tickling location.)
Another complaint about shopping: nothing fits me properly. I am "curvy," to put it kindly, and do not take to hip-huggers. Oxford-style shirts either gap across the bust or swaddle me in acres of fabric. (Why are shirts sized 0,2,4... like skirts & pants?) And then there's the problem with sizing. I can range anywhere from an 8 to a 14 depending on the store, sometimes even depending on the items of clothing within a store. Seeing as most dressing rooms have a limit on the number of items one can try on at one time, this range means that I am basically trying on only one style at a time, looking for the size that this particular store, designer, and style fits me closest. What a waste of time when the item doesn't look good on me.
On the plus side, I got lots of personal attention from the store employees (I can't remember what the general title is). I'm not sure if it was because I was there on a weekday, and therefore they were less busy, or if it was because I was going to generally higher-end stores than I usually go to, but it was very nice to ask someone to get me another size, instead of having to put on my own clothes, collect all my stuff, wander around the store, and then try to get into a dressing room again.
I also took the plunge and bought some foundation. Extraordinarily expensive foundation, but two things excuse the purchase. First, it is almost exactly my skin tone, so when I do rub some off by accident, it's pretty much not noticeable; I'm not sure I'll ever remember to not lean my cheek on my hand, or not pick at the hairs that blow across my cheeks, but at least there won't be massive patches of makeup/not-makeup. Second, it doesn't feel like a mask on my skin. I'm still aware of it, but it's only the third day I'm wearing it, and I'm much less aware than I thought I would be. Once I'm used to it, I'll probably try something cheaper (i.e. purchaseable at a drug store), but I think it's worth using something Very Good to practice with.
*****
Not very coherent, and the lack of topics is still bothering me; why is it I can't think of something to write a decent-sized post on a daily basis? Here's a topic for the future: the boys on the street the day I went shopping. I'm not sure I want to write about that, but it is something to think about.
But I guess it's nice confirmation I'm on the right track.
As I mentioned, I planned to take Wednesday off, rather than just skipping it (like I did with Thursday). I needed to go shopping for "official" clothes. I've mentioned before that I'm sartorially challenged; an un-lettered t-shirt and non-sneakers are about the extent of my dressing up. Thus, I'm trying to learn to be comfortable in grownup clothes before I have to wear them; I know all about projecting how uncomfortable one is in one's chosen finery.
It's very hard finding good clothes. What do I mean by good clothes? To start, I don't mean "dressy" ("Put on your good clothes to go to church, kids.") What I mean is clothes that are comfortable enough; that fit decently; that don't make me look too different from my age (either older or younger; I'm old enough that dressing young is going to look ridiculous); and clothes that don't require too much effort to take care of. The biggest problem with the last one is that I don't like artificial fibers, but natural fibers are a massive pain in the ass, which means I'll probably have to rethink my prejudice (especially since artificial fibers are maturing into more wearable fabrics).
However, my problem on Wednesday is that clothing manufacturers have taken to putting tags somewhere else. Only pants still have fiber content/care tags at the back of the waistband; skirts have it buried somewhere down one seam; ditto for shirts. This means that you have to wrestle with the garment trying to figure out what it's made of, how careful one has to be when washing, and how much ironing it will probably need. (I also don't like the new tag placement on shirts because it's usually right at the waist: prime tickling location.)
Another complaint about shopping: nothing fits me properly. I am "curvy," to put it kindly, and do not take to hip-huggers. Oxford-style shirts either gap across the bust or swaddle me in acres of fabric. (Why are shirts sized 0,2,4... like skirts & pants?) And then there's the problem with sizing. I can range anywhere from an 8 to a 14 depending on the store, sometimes even depending on the items of clothing within a store. Seeing as most dressing rooms have a limit on the number of items one can try on at one time, this range means that I am basically trying on only one style at a time, looking for the size that this particular store, designer, and style fits me closest. What a waste of time when the item doesn't look good on me.
On the plus side, I got lots of personal attention from the store employees (I can't remember what the general title is). I'm not sure if it was because I was there on a weekday, and therefore they were less busy, or if it was because I was going to generally higher-end stores than I usually go to, but it was very nice to ask someone to get me another size, instead of having to put on my own clothes, collect all my stuff, wander around the store, and then try to get into a dressing room again.
I also took the plunge and bought some foundation. Extraordinarily expensive foundation, but two things excuse the purchase. First, it is almost exactly my skin tone, so when I do rub some off by accident, it's pretty much not noticeable; I'm not sure I'll ever remember to not lean my cheek on my hand, or not pick at the hairs that blow across my cheeks, but at least there won't be massive patches of makeup/not-makeup. Second, it doesn't feel like a mask on my skin. I'm still aware of it, but it's only the third day I'm wearing it, and I'm much less aware than I thought I would be. Once I'm used to it, I'll probably try something cheaper (i.e. purchaseable at a drug store), but I think it's worth using something Very Good to practice with.
*****
Not very coherent, and the lack of topics is still bothering me; why is it I can't think of something to write a decent-sized post on a daily basis? Here's a topic for the future: the boys on the street the day I went shopping. I'm not sure I want to write about that, but it is something to think about.
posted by ceresina at 11:14 AM
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