Wednesday, October 2, 2013

that's our job but we're not mean

I have become such a boring conversationalist lately.  I don't know if I'm more mired in the back-and-forth of the Great Mormon Woman Problem coming to a head because I live on the Wasatch Front in the middle of the Mormon bubble, but it is all around me at all times, and I feel like I keep getting forced into helping people see the difference between doctrine and policy and custom and tradition.  And then there's the Great American Woman Problem wrapped around that, and then the Worldwide Woman Problem wrapped around that.  I don't want to only see the world through oppression-colored glasses!  Believe me, I would love to never talk about modesty again.  I would love to not have to listen to sexist and incorrect opinions masquerading as truth.  I would love for every one of the Woman Problems to not be problems anymore, so we could all get on with our lives and spend more time worrying about and solving all the other problems in the world.  So dumb.  So I'm sorry that I tend to keep taking my dipper back to that same well, but unfortunately it's kind of what is going on in my life all the time.  It's so divisive.

I'm reading one of Tim Gunn's books right now, and I wish so badly that I had someone I trusted who could help me figure out who I am stylistically.  He mentions "soul-stirring" clothing, and the frustrating thing is I think I have a handful of pieces that stir my soul, clothing-wise, and they're mostly very casual.  I think I have a good idea of what kind of shoe person I am, and I think I usually pick a flattering shoe, but there are so few outfits that make me feel like I nailed it.  And sorry, Tim, but leggings are often a factor in my successes.  I can do a cropped ankle now and then, and boot cuts are easy for most people, even "dewdrops," as the pear shape is currently being rebranded, but other than that I have to be very careful.  A near-knee-length dress with leggings and either boots or flat sandals is a lot kinder to me than most other outfits.  But I keep buying stuff either because I think I'll love it, or because I think I need to get out of my young-children-at-home-must-dress-like-slob rut, and then it just languishes in my closet.  There are some successes.  A few years ago I got a red and black plaid wool car coat, and it has surprised me with its staying power. I could wax rhapsodic about my new boots that seem like they were designed just for me.  An orange cardigan I got from Target a couple of months ago fixes almost all my shirts.  I have found that wrap dresses are my friend.  But I have yet to find a really good classic trench coat and a white button-down shirt.  I have bought so many white shirts over the years, and with each one the relationship has soured almost instantly.  But I keep trying because I am an American, and therefore both wasteful and eternally optimistic.  Not so optimistic that I'll ever buy another pair of corduroy pants, though, no matter how thin the wale.

See what a boring caricature I've become?  Sexism and fashion?


Marsha said...

Not boring. I rely on your blog to make sense of Mormon stuff, and other things as well.