Crazy at it might seem, the subject matter has been rolling around in the empty space between my ears for a while now. Not a long while but just about as long as I switched out my winter clothing for the lighter ones.
‘Tis an odd thing, it is. But I’ve changed my mindset about clothing. It could be a mixture of age, a changing body, not working in corporate anymore and the ultimate desire to be comfortable; and this mélange of reasons have me questioning fashion as we know it.
I’ve been through corporate, unemployment, back to corporate, back to unemployment and for almost three years, I’ve been working at a state hospital where the lack of dress code has been mind-boggling.
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My former corporate attire. I can’t even fit this over my thighs anymore. Do I miss dressing like this? Well, not really. I’m all about comfort now!
In the past I’ve shared some pretty nice ensembles with you. My favorite outfits for winter. Summer. Travel. But lacking in the at-home wear because at home wear is usually a pair of Old Navy pajamas that I refer to as “lounge wear”. But we all know what lounge wear is anyway. Am I right?
These have gone from being called “pajamas” into now being named “At Home” clothing and “Loungewear”. And no, I will never wear this ensemble at the airport nor on a plane because, thruthfully, they are pajamas!
My current work wardrobe consists of various pairs of pants with sweaters or tee shirts and in the summer shirts with built-in bras. The change was gradual. When I started, I wore dresses and skirts. And when I discovered I was the only one dressing that way, my wardrobe started to lean more to, not business casual, but casual casual. Summer is an exception because the A/C never works in my office so I stick to sundresses and maxi dresses.
A current work outfit when I feel like REALLY dressing up these days!
And here’s the thing. My body has changed. If you peruse the internet and printed articles in magazines, you’ll read all about women going through menopause and how their bodies have changed. Well, me, being the late bloomer, I always have been, didn’t go through those body changes until well after menopause. My cups runneth over with side boobage. My belly started to really belly. In fact, my belly has a life of her own. My thighs got flabbier. My turkey neck decided to turn into a folding pile of crepe paper. And my arms they got a bit flabby too.
Well, MY cups runneth over with side boobage. And a belly. And flabbier thighs. And……
Allow me to admit that my propensity for laziness is also at fault here because I don’t exercise. I’m at a desk. At a computer. All day. I come home and want to relax. When I get depressed, my lazy nature becomes epic. When I am not depressed, my laziness is still lazy. I refuse to pay for a gym membership because I’ll go for a week then will stop. Besides—gyms smell—and I will die on that hill. I’ve said it before and will continue to say it: when I lived in NYC, I was in the best shape of my life. I walked everywhere. And the walking did a world of wonders for my body and mind.
This would be me after I return home from work. I miss active me.
The suburbs are different. I abhor walking around here. It is extremely boring. And I will leave it at that because if you don’t have anything nice to say…………….
And comfort. I want to be comfortable these days. No tight waistbands digging into my gut. No constantly adjusting falling bra straps. No more heels. I just cannot go long periods wearing them anymore. But the thing is, I still want to look good. I want to wear clothing that checks the comfort boxes and style (as a noun not as a verb) boxes. In addition, I do not want to be that delusional older woman who is dressing to be her 16-year-old self again.
So, after researching and going through tubs of clothing in the garage, I found the perfect solution. Linen, linen-adjacent, cotton and fabrics that are light enough for the warmer months but can be layered for the colder months. Yeah. I also want a three-season wardrobe. Lugging clothing up and down stairs for storage is exhausting albeit the only exercise I get.
It IS about comfort these days. I wore this to NYC two weeks ago. Comfortable and simple but stylish. Truth be told I haven’t worn this since because the weather decided to step back into winter!
I took a very realistic look at my clothing. Especially those in the tubs. Many of which did not fit anymore but I was holding onto them like Miss Havesham was holding on to her lost love memories. The reality was those clothes will most likely never fit me again—they have been hidden away for years. And I donated them. I can’t deal with reselling them because I can’t deal with people who would ever want a refund. Donating is my groove.
In a weird way, I love Miss Havisham. She’s looking back at long-lost love and hoping it’ll return. I’m no longer looking back at long-lost sizing from my old clothing. It ain’t returning!
Then I assessed what kinds of clothing I did like. Truth be told, I liked those linen and linen-blend wide legged pants I have had but barely wore. I tried them on. They looked good. Very good. I liked the elastic waistband. It stretched. Yeah, my belly didn’t shrink but it didn’t look that bad with the right clothes. In fact, from the front I appear leaner than from the side view! Tops came next. I love an airy, oversized button down, gauzy/linen shirt—but my tits get in the way of buttoning without bunching. I changed bras. Instead of a padded bra, I took my light, non-padded, bralettes out of hibernation. Suddenly the shirts looked much better.
These Old Navy Pants and top from about three years ago were rarely worn. I’m glad I held on because now, I love them. The only thing with Old Navy, as well as other brands is inconsistant sizing.
I did the tuck with other shirts and I like the way it looks. I purchased a few items from Quince and some from OGL Move. OGL Move offers tops with built-in bras. Who wouldn’t love that?
I purchased this dress on a deep sale last summer from OGL. It’s fully lined AND the pockets have zippers, making this a perfect dress to go shopping and stick your money or bank cards in the zippered pockets. The pockets run deep so car keys will fit in there too. My belly stick outs but at this point in my life, I don’t care. It is what it is.
Don’t get me wrong. I still have my summer maxi dresses from Lilly Pulitzer and more dresses.
One of my maxi dresses from Lilly Pulitzer, I wore this to my son and daughter-in-law’s rehearsal dinner last August.
I love the high neckline on this Lilly dress because it hides my turkey neck. I eagerly look forward to the weather warming up so I can wear this and I can skip shaving my legs!
And I still have this madras dress waiting for the heat to arrive.
My favorite summer ensemble is a skirt and top with built-in bra that I practically lived in last summer and I purchased another one for this year. I can wear them well into autumn with a blazer or sweater.
Shoes? My ballet flats have served me well over the years and continue to do so. Over the winter I discovered another brand of flat, pointy-toed shoes—C. Paravano and one can get them on eBay for 1/3 the price. The shoes fit my feet well. And are great for spring and autumn. Once the weather gets hot, my Rondini sandals will be my everyday shoes.
I practically live in my Rondini sandals during the summer. But I have to say, my new favorite shoe brand is C. Paravano. The shoes are incredibly comfortable!
Let me show you how these most comfortable items look on me:
Below is the OGL Move two-piece skirt and Brami top. What I absolutely love about OGL is that you have a choice for sizing in the brand’s two-piece sets. For the Brami tops with the built-in bra, I wear a Medium but for my bottoms, I wear a Large. I will tell you, though, that for this particular set, there isn’t a huge difference between the M and L for the skirt. In the first two pics I’m wearing a Medium skirt and the far right a Large. It’s mostly that the length is longer in the large.
These sets by OGL are wonderful. I wore this outfit constantly last summer.
Here it is in black. M top, L skirt. I freaking LOVE this outfit!
OGL has travel pant sets as well, Sort of like sweatshirt material, but not. I have it in black (below) and ordered another one in brown. The comfort level is astounding! These are GREAT for travel. The pants are a perfect length. In fall, you can layer with a cardigan or light jacket.
Here’s the OGL travel set. Pants are a size L. Top a Medium. At first I ordered a Large top buy the armholes were incredibly huge. I am donating the large top, along with other clothing that doesn’t fit me (because the clothes are too small) to the women patients at the hospital. They need clothing for when they are released to community housing.
Bottoms are Old Navy. Size Medium. I find these wide-leg pants have generous sizing. The top is from Quince. I’m enjoying these sleeveless linen tops because they are loose but not sloppy looking.
More Old Navy Pants from a few years back that went unworn and Quince top. I like this top better tucked. It looks neater. The Quince tops are all large. Some of Quince’s tops tend to run on the smaller side.
Quince pants are a different story. I have two pair of the European Linen pants pictured below. Navy and white. I ordered Large and they are slightly loose around the waist and backside. It’s apparent that I’m in between sizes with Quince as far as pants are concerned. I’ll elaborate further a bit down in the post.
This top is also by Quince. It’s the cropped linen shirt. I love this length with higher-waisted bottoms. It’s airy and extermely comfortable. The bottoms are the 100% European Linen Pants. The length falls just above the ankles and I love that length.
Here’s the white pants. In first photo I am wearing the pants with an Old Navy cropped linen-blend top from a few years ago. I belted with a suede ribbon belt from Gretchen Scott–also from a few years ago. Second pic wearing with the Linen crop top from Quince and in the third Quince’s Linen tank. I’m not crazy about how the tank top looks with this–it looks sloppy. The top would look much better with my J. Crew pixie pants.
Here’s the thing about Quince’s sizing. I decided to order these wide-leg, drawstring linen pants in Medium. They were too tight around the waist and hips. The remedy? I washed them, no dryer–and stretched the waist and hips. That’s the great thing about linen. It can be stretched out if need be. I stretched them out, ironed them and now they fit fine.
Sizing can be daunting. Bodies change as we age–no doubt about it. Many of us become softer and wider and that’s fine. The issue lies in finding the right fit. Being in between sizes can be more daunting but the question remains: Would you rather have a snug size or a larger size? For me, in bottoms, the larger size is far more important because comfort is first. Don’t get me wrong–I don’t want to be swimming in bottoms or running the chance of my pants falling down. I still want to look nice but comfortable without looking frumpy. And wrinkles in clothes, especially linen are fine. I like my clothing the way I like my face–wrinkled!
This outfit is a favorite. Old Navy pants, the Medium is very body-friendly. Very generous sizing. The shirt? Purchased in France last summer from H & M. I love the way this looks. Perfect for work or going out.
One thing I want to add about the shirt pictured above. For years I didn’t feel comfortable wearing button-down shirts. The chest area always buckled because of my bra and even with larger sizing, the shirts were too stiff or just ..I dunno, just not right. This shirt from H & M changed me. It’s oversized but not ridiculously so. The fabric is so lightweight and drapes so well over the chest area–there is no buckling at all. It is a pleasure to wear.
This ensemble will get me from now until late autumn. It is truly three-season. The cotton cashmere crew neck sweater is from Quince. Size Large and the fit is stellar. The pants were on sale at Gretchen Scott designs. I love the pattern and with ballet flats looks so casual chic!
Something about Gretchen Scott designs. Her gripeless pull-on pants are fantastic. I have a few pair going back and the fit is very generous. The pants pictured are a medium. The length hits at the ankle. The pants are extremely comfortable and wash nicely. The odd thing about this brand is I never see any reviews and I can’t understand why The other thing about Gretchen Scott is the pricing. I think, for the most part, the clothing is expensive but the sales are phenomenal.
Lastly, shorts. i will wear a maxi dress before I don a pair of shorts. However, sometimes here in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic area, July, August, and September are humid. VERY humid. And hot. That’s where the shorts come in. I’m wearing the tan shorts with a vest and the black ones with a cropped top. Both are higher-waisted and even though the same size, I like the way the black pair fits better.
My legs are heavier and now resemble crepe paper. I need to fake tan because I can’t stand my fish-belly hued legs. Both of these shorts are from Quince. size Large. They will be prefect for heading to the beach or running errands during the summer. In fact, I will most likely wear them to work because the hospital has the A/C on in winter and the heat in summer. I kid you not.
We’re always changing, aren’t we? My style will always be very basic and classic but these days I’ve become less fussy and just want to reach for comfort. What say you? ( I can’t believe I just wrote that–that’s such an old-person thing to say). Are you into comfort these days? Are you more of a fashionista? I’m very curious!