Mirrors Reflect More Than I Want to See

There is something about three-way dressing room mirrors and fluorescent lighting that remind me finding age appropriate, size forgiving, and flattering clothes is getting harder.

Just around the corner in every woman’s mind – is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her.  ~Wilhela Cushman

So, I succumbed and signed up for an on-line fashion service; a personal shopper if you will. When I received the box of their suggestions, I saw some limitations of Internet shopping.

The experience though was fun. Messaging a complete stranger, I admitted my size, preferences, favorite colors, and price limits. Daydreaming about what would arrive also was a pleasant pastime. But receiving what a stranger thought I’d like was not.

Oh, the selections were attractive – smashing, actually, had I been taller, younger, and thinner. But, plaid stretchy pants in my size, paired with a dramatic patterned jacket, a sleeveless, silky tunic, and wedges,  I just can’t carry off.

Facing Myself

Yes, the truth that any mirrors tell is hard to hear.  So, too, there is something about aging and the illumination it brings that shows me clothes don’t really make the woman . . . or cover her up.

I wanted someone who could suggest good choices to deflect people’s attention from my prominent flaws; so I would look good for the shape I am in.  They sent a selection of pieces that are trending as a popular combination — None of which could camouflage the reality of a seventy something recovering couch potato.

Although a life-long fashion dropout, I have absorbed enough by reading Harper’s Bazaar while waiting at the dentist’s to have grasped that the purpose of fashion is to make A Statement.  My own modest Statement, discerned by true cognoscenti, is, “Woman Who Wears Clothes So She Won’t Be Naked.”  ~Molly Ivins

So maybe it’s time to just be grateful for the same old, same old outfits, forgiving  fabrics, muted(dull) colors and flowy scarves.

After all, the best compliment I have received recently was from a grandchild who likes to snuggle with me because I am so comfy.

Mirrors Teach Truth