I'm out of style

I remember that when I was little I argued with my mother about what I was wearing. The first thing we fought about was bloomers. You know, those underpants with elastic at the end of the legs. My mother made mine and she made them roomy enough to have another child in there with me. The idea was, I was supposed to pull the legs down closer to my knees. This was not just for modesty, but also for warmth when I got too big to wear leggings or snow pants.

The bloomers were supposed to come meet my long stockings to keep my legs warm as I walked to school in the winter. But I wanted to pull the legs of the bloomers up and roll the stockings down. I had a snow suit for wearing out to play, but it was too cumbersome to wear to school and hang in the cloak room. I finally graduated to knee socks which I could keep up with rubber bands under the folded over decorative top of the socks. When I was older still I wore ankle socks and saddle shoes and knee length dresses and coats. I still was walking about a mile to school, but I don't remember getting too cold. It freezes me today to even think about that however.

Coming up to the present day, I realized I was still out of style. I can't seem to feel comfortable without a part in my hair. And I want it to be straight. Looking at the movie stars in the Oscar Awards last Sunday, I thought some of them looked like they forgot to comb their hair. Many of them had straight hair hanging down on both sides of their face that looked like it had escaped the hairdo and come loose. Or others, had hair that went in all directions. I'll have to admit that most hair styles were attractive however.

I guess they concentrated on the hair more because they had to scrimp on material for their dresses. Some of them didn't quite go up far enough. The women did a good job of not seeming to be embarrassed about the skimpiness, but it puzzled me, since there seemed to be plenty of material to make long flowing skirts, but ran out of material for the top part. One lady even had a long oval hole right in the middle of the top of her dress. And the TV cameras didn't even try to help her disguise the hole but took many pictures of her walking and talking as if nothing was wrong. I guess that is why they were getting awards. They are such good actresses you couldn't even tell that they were embarrassed.

I remember when it was enough to make you skip school if you noticed that one of your bra straps was showing on your shoulder. We would pin or clip them to make sure that didn't happen. But now there is no big attempt to hide them. I didn't see any bra straps at the Oscar Awards however. In fact for some of them I don't believe there was any way they could have possibly been wearing bras. Maybe their dresses were sort of like some bathing suits and had that support all built in at the top.

I was out of style as a high school and college girl because I didn't wear high heels on dates. I was taller than some of my dates, so I wore sandals or low heels. We noticed that many of the women who were doing the interviews at the Awards towered above some of the male actors and technicians. But they still wore very high heels. I thought they looked great, but I couldn't stand to wear that type of heel now. I have enough trouble walking with my Nikes on. I do great in my sock feet however -- if there is something nearby to hold on to from time to time.

I see some women and boys wearing flannel pajama bottoms to town. My mother wouldn't even let me wear shorts or jeans to town, even to just get groceries. Obviously I do now, but I would be very uncomfortable wearing pajamas while shopping. One of my frequent dreams recently is going to some sort of a meeting barefooted. I keep trying to get away to find a shoe store to buy some shoes, but something always keeps me from taking care of that. I am still thinking of that dream when I stumble over a couple of pairs of shoes on the floor by my bed when I get up at night in the dark.

They say that one of the pluses of being middle age plus is that you no longer care what people think of you and you can wear anything you like. I find that true up to a point, but I do feel the need of wearing shoes in public, wearing tops that cover me above the waist, and combing my hair. But wearing sweat shirts, jeans, corduroys, T-shirts and hoodies make me feel that I am not too far out of style.