Dress Stress

 As many of you know, we recently celebrated the marriage of our granddaughter to her beau of 4 years. It was a happy occasion and a beautiful day. All went according to plan...and we all know that a wedding takes a lot of planning.

As the grandmother of the bride, the planning was pretty much out of my hands. I heard about some of the plans from the bride and mother of the bride, but all I really had to do was get myself there...and be dressed appropriately! And since my wardrobe consists almost exclusively of jeans, I felt the need to purchase something dressy for the occasion. I could have probably gotten by with a pantsuit, but since I'm not Hillary Clinton, a dress seemed more appropriate. This turned out to be a bigger undertaking than I had anticipated. 

Number one problem...I hate to shop for clothes. In recent years, I have resorted to making multiple purchases on Amazon and returning the items I don't want to keep. And since Amazon has almost everything, this was doable. I ordered a dress, and miraculously it fit and looked decent. Then a couple weeks before the wedding I had second thoughts about it. So I ordered six more dresses! I was beginning to panic as I tried them on since none of them looked like something I would be caught dead wearing. Finally, the next to last dress I tried on worked! So, I now have two new dresses hanging in my closet. I might need to begin wearing dresses to church on Sunday!

Next issue, undergarments! I've discovered that a pair of jeans provides a lot of shaping power for the out of shape body. And this body seriously needed a better shape to make the dress look right. I think in olden days they were called corsets. Then they were called girdles. And now they are called shapewear. No matter what they are called, they suck and tuck the flab and make it look a bit better. But I'm not sure they're really any more comfortable than they ever were. And then, you kind of have to make sure it sucks in the whole area so there isn't a bulge where the fat runs over. Amazon had a good selection to choose from, and I am now the proud owner of shapewear! 

Moving on down, the next problem. For many years, in fact all of my adult years, pantyhose has been the thing that made a dress look good. In the past 10 years or so, they have gone out of vogue and bare legs are in. I have to admit that this trend lends itself to comfort, but maybe not appearance for all of us. Luckily, my summer tan has hung on a bit, so those legs aren't pasty white right now. I have to say I felt a bit underdressed without pantyhose, but I adapted and kind of like that new trend now. Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing pantyhose in stores any time recently. Possibly hose have made a permanent exit.

Then there was the shoe issue. (Obviously my wardrobe needs some upgrading!) My footwear of choice is flip-flops. And I have a pair of dressy flip-flops that would work just great, but we were advised to wear closed-toe shoes to the wedding ceremony as it was an outdoor wedding and there was cactus here and there. I actually had 3 pair of shoes that would have worked, but two of them were instruments of torture. I just need to get rid of them. As I tried them on, I couldn't stand to walk across the bedroom in them! By this time, I didn't have time to shop for new shoes...and I didn't have confidence in Amazon for a pair of shoes that fit correctly and comfortably. I finally settled on a pair of flats that were a bit sloppy fitting. I filled them out as best I could with insoles and spacers and was able to be walked down the aisle without throwing a shoe. However, between the wedding and reception, I switched to those flip-flops!

I also kind of stressed over the hair and makeup thing, but by the time I got myself dressed, I settled for the same old same old look there. Actually, I just applied some of the makeup I already own rather than go bare-faced as I tend to do these days. 

All this came together to make me realize that I need to up my game in the appearance department. I have become so comfortable in jeans, choosing to dress them up or down with different tops. Flip-flops or tennis shoes are my footwear of choice. I brush my hair and wash my face, and out the door I go! It can't hurt to put a bit more effort into things. So this morning, I actually arrived at church with full make up, my good black jeans, a top and sweater combo and appropriate shoes. I even conceded to socks since the shoes kind of required them. But I will admit that upon arrival at home, I immediately changed into jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops. I'm still me!