The $250 Skirt
Ever since last fall, when I pulled out my winter skirts only to discover I didn’t like the fit of one and then promptly ripped the lining of the other the first time I wore it, I’ve been limping and skimping in the Sunday wardrobe department. NONinspirational! Basically, winter alternatives can be reduced to:
- wool trousers, which I love. I have been diligently searching for another pair.
- jeans, which I’d rather not wear to church, but I do in a pinch. And believe me, I’m feeling the pinch now!
- dresses. A winter dress is a rarity in my wardrobe. So rare, in fact, that it doesn’t exist.
- which leaves skirts. And with as many skirt options as there are, why is it so hard for me to find even one that doesn’t leave me feeling frumpy and grumpy?
The skirt in my idiom, and I say this more for myself than for anyone else:
- is tapered, pegged, pencil, whatever you want to call it. I don’t mind a little do-flippy hem, but the full skirt on me is downright awful; A-line is a significant compromise.
- falls BELOW the knee, at the “hemline of supreme elegance”.
- has only tasteful and necessary slit(s).
- doesn’t cling to my legs and bunch up and move around when I walk. Also doesn’t have some dorky clash of sleazy underwear fabric “slipping” out from under it.
In desperation, I have begun collecting thrifted skirts, with the hopes of cannabilizing one or more to somehow piece together something that would work. I’ve found lots of cute prints and fabrics, but somehow when it comes time to actually cut or sew I end up painting or blogging instead! So, while I normally wouldn’t spend $15 on a thrifted skirt, when I found one this week that was lined and below-the-knee and tapered, $15 looked like a bargain.
Closer inspection revealed the bargain it really was: brand-new tags said $250 $100!
Admittedly, the peachy color and cotton/linen fabric make it more of a spring wardrobe staple than winter. But it rather looks like spring is here to stay this year, doesn’t it?
How would you define the perfect skirt in your own idiom?
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Brainstorming on Fitting Trousers
Stephanie asks:
I don’t have a need for work slacks, but I would like some slacks for church. Any tips on fit? I have never worn them. I’m especially thrown by the noticeable lack of back pockets, and I just don’t know what is flattering. I see so many women wearing slacks that fit poorly…Don’t know how to not make that mistake. Right now, if I don’t wear a skirt to church, I wear dark wash jeans, but I’d like to expand my options.
Well, I’ll tell you a couple of things that are not flattering:
- form-fitting, skin-color pants
- visible pocket outlines
- jiggle
Defining what works is a bit more challenging. Let’s face it: women’s bodies are complicated.
Assuming we (at the bottom of the fashion food chain) lack the means, and/or skills, to do custom, here’s brainstorming on trouser fit:
- If your waist and hip measurements correspond to different sizes, go with the larger size and get alterations if necessary. (This is different from the way stretch jeans are normally fit these days.)
- Lining adds to a smooth look. Alternatively, wear magic underwear.
- The benefit of a mid-rise style with a waistband construction is breaking up the area visually. Recently I’ve seen styles with pocket flaps; same idea.
I suspect different styles flatter different figure types. For me, the fast diagonal line created by the slash front pocket is like magic; it almost transforms my figure eight silhouette into a V!
I’d love to hear what works for others.
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Month of Sundays: August 2009
What do you do when it’s the final day on a $10 off a $10 purchase coupon, 50% off clearance prices, AND another 15% off for using the right card? Get shopping! The truly frugal will hope to find something with a final price of just over $10, making it “so cheap it’s almost free” (a favorite phrase of mine).
I thought I had really done it with this tunic top in my best bright and my favorite fabric. Marked down from $46 to $23, half off, plus the extra 15%, I expected it to be just about $10, but the thing rang up like $5 and something! So I had to go back and get more stuff. 
(Last year when I blogged about wearing a dress over shorts, you guys made fun of me. I still like the idea. So this year I’ve been looking for some mid-thigh dresses, but I haven’t found any. While this is way too short to be a dress on me - it’s 30″ long - it’s a similar look.)
What I went back for was this fun top and basic pair of khaki shorts, which coincidentally make an outfit. They weren’t quite as great a deal, HOWEVER, the grand total for all three pieces was - drumroll, please - $13.74 American. Which I can afford (this month and last I have been spending from my “walking around money” for clothing, since I have spent quite a bit already this year).
In filling out what I’ll be wearing to church this August, I found that I can fit into this dress, previously purchased for $1 at Value Village. 
Towards the end of August, it may be cool enough for me to break out my new trouser jeans. That would be good, because I don’t wear jeans with heels all that often. And I’m still shooting for at most 25 cents cost per wear.
What are you wearing to church this August?
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Monthly Scheduling
As I’ve made my way through the life of Moses this past year, something occurred to me that hadn’t before:
In addition to their regular weekly rhythm of life and annual festivals, and even the seven-year cycle (more about that another day), God’s people practiced a monthly sacrifice.
Now, I realize this is a stretch in terms of application, but the question that occurred to me is, “what in my life isn’t working because I have not developed any kind of monthly rhythm in my life?” The answer? All kinds of stuff. Like getting my bills paid. My filing done. And my wardrobe rotated.
And because I have been a slacker in terms of getting my wardrobe rotated, I’m having Sunday wardrobe trauma. So I went through my calendar and blocked out a day every month to plan some Sunday outfits. I’d like some more creative options, but until then:
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The Modest Wedding Guest
Why should modesty be a consideration when attending a wedding? Simply because, while it is quite natural to be the center of our own attention, a wedding guest who wants to be the center of attention at a wedding ought to just have declined the invitation. The wedding, my friends, is about the two people getting married. They are the rightful center of attention.
Here’s where I cease to be dictator. From now on, consider my ideas descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, these are words with which I hope to paint a picture of modesty, not a list of rules.
The modest wedding guest …
- chooses a color or print, as opposed to black or white (black is okay for evening weddings).
- prefers a softer tint or shade to something intense like red or cobalt blue.
- foregoes the sequins and spangles, as well as anything that you’d wear “clubbing”.
- remembers she’ll be sitting down. Skirts should be long enough to cover thighs when sitting. And when viewed from behind, sitting in a pew, the wearer of a halter dress may appear to be wearing nothing at all!
- doesn’t choose to skip, even if the couple’s religion dictates stricter guidelines (like sleeves).
- and the big, obvious, in-your-face one: please, no cleavage!
Admittedly, depending on the wearer, any of these pictured could appear immodest. The good news is they are all from Nordstrom.com’s page of dresses under $150.
This post is for the Carnival of Modesty, hosted by MamaArcher.
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I Wore This Yesterday
… and heard things like “glamourous”. Along with a little ribbing for wearing white after labor day. ;) (I know the top is not bright or print, but the dark/light contrast is actually really good on me with my dark eyes and light hair.)
More to come this week on scheduled maintenance. And my hair appointment is Wednesday.
What’s going on in your world?
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Reader Question: Are Longer Floral Dresses Hopelessly Dated?
The standard Closet Clean-out for a Woman in her ‘30s, at Wardrobe Oxygen, 
promises to “improve your reputation at work, your chances at finding a mate, and will actually make you look younger and more confident.”
Aimed at the woman entering her 30s, who may even need to do her first major post-university closet purge, this is a fabulous post, and funny. But the question which has come up here is this:
Can a 40-year-old with a well-developed personal sense of style still wear the Church dress, Laura Ingalls Wilder dress, granny dress, prairie dress, or, “I give up dress” without looking hopelessly dated?
I confess, I think the pictured dress looks good.
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Sunday Wardrobe Trauma
This was my room on a recent Sunday morning, after I finally got dressed. Tell me, do you suppose I left feeling relaxed and worshipful? If you said ‘no’, you were right. This was the scene of some serious Sunday wardrobe trauma!
Some of what was going through my head (that I can repeat):
- I hate skirts. More correctly, I detest above-the-knee skirts.
- This skirt would work, if only it were lined.
- Do I have anything that could stand in for a slip?
My challenge, and I must succeed, is to:
- Figure out what I want to wear to church when it’s between 50 and 70 degrees out, and
- Buy it.
In the meantime, my younger daughter is more than willing to allow me to borrow her skirts, which is only reasonable since I often buy them for her on my 99 cent Monday excursions.
Please share: what is your uniform template for church or other dressy casual occasions when the weather is too warm for wool pants and too cool to go barefoot?
I’m happy to report I had zero trauma this past week. Summer has arrived!
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Business Versus Social
Can you identify the difference between business and social clothes? Both are more formal than our everyday clothes, both are usually worn with dress shoes. But they are not interchangeable. Underlying many what to wear blunders is misunderstanding the distinctions between these two wardrobe lifestyle segments.
After first reminding us all that categories are somewhat fluid based on personal style idiom, perhaps it would be fun to play with some examples. All pictures are clickable.
Which of these cardigans would you wear for business and which for social? Which skirt?
And should you win any shoes in the Stuart Weitzman Celebrity Shoe Auction benefiting Ovarian Cancer (ht: Wendy), I suggest you reserve them for social.
What frustrates me is this: there would be no need for employers to write detailed dress code manuals if people would just take it upon themselves to care what they ought to wear. The benefits are proven. (Look at Beth’s story back here.)
Which of these two ladies would you hire for a professional office job? And where do you think the other is going?
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Teen Style Tuesday: A Series of Fall Outfits
SCORE! Today, in our final pre-Halloween Monday morning thrifting excursion, the skirt dd had been eyeing was the 99 cent color tag. She didn’t even notice the brand-new tags were still attached until coming out of the fitting room! It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but it’s an Eddie Bauer corduroy brown herringbone with a single pleat in the front.
And since I had to re-shoot all the pictures due to my photographic incompetence, I’m just going to be quiet now … grumble, grumble. I probably wouldn’t be able to say anything nice anyway. I have told you that I have zero interest in photography, haven’t I?
Update: since this post is (marginally) about daughters, it seems appropriate to mention the new blog carnival at Real Life: Mothers and Daughters Blog Carnival. Check it out!
