I Feel Pretty...and Other Notes on my Wardrobe

Sometimes I wonder if the word "pretty" is slowly being removed from the English language in connection with humans. It seems to me like women have truly been forbidden to wear pretty things. Just watching people at the store has been an eye opener. What women feel comfortable shopping in is amazing. We have quite an "eclectic" group in Olympia and seeing the outfits that these young women put together makes me worry about woman-kind in general. At first I was skeptical when the authors of the Ladies Against Feminism were talking about women walking around being proud to look like sloppy men, but now I am seeing some of the truth behind their words. The other day, as I was battling the skirts/dresses=modesty concept, I saw a woman who was very modestly dressed; she was wearing near knee length shorts and a tucked in t-shirt with ankle socks and tennis shoes. While there was nothing sloppy in her appearance, nor anything unmodest, the thought I had while attempting to justify her dress (as modest) was "but it's NOT feminine." The more I look around the more I see that women today have traded "feminine" for "comfortable" and they are just as trapped by it as our ancestors were by long skirts.

I have been wearing primarily skirts for a week now and I am truly happy about it. I am enjoying the feminine feeling. I want to make some dresses now. Dresses are (probably) so much easier than skirts because you only need one thing to have a complete outfit. The only major problem I know of when it comes to dresses is that they have a tendency to look frumpy when worn casually. Since I am not dressing for the ball, I want a practical wardrobe and though there are many dresses that qualify, most of them look so unfashionable and frumpy that I wouldn't want to wear it! I suppose that, as with everything, the fabric makes a huge difference and the small floral prints that are on all these dresses is a little TOO feminine for me right now. I enjoy the dresses and skirts and I have even made a slightly "frumpy" skirt, which I intended to be an everyday style skirt that I could pull on when nothing else was clean. It will achieve that very well. Now I want to extend my wardrobe by including some dresses in the same manner...something I can wear when there is nothing else to wear. I still have three skirts to make from the material I already have, so i will just make those first. The other thing that I am lacking in my wardrobe are the shirt staples. I have a few shirts (enough for a summer wardrobe) but nothing that is "lasting" or quality work. I am hoping to buy a good quality pattern to use for my shirt. Two of the skirts that I want to make are going to need specific shirts to go with them because the color palette is unique. One thing is for certain, I need to find a budget for this new hobby. I couldn't possibly go out and buy an entirely new wardrobe, yet this is what I am trying to do now! I have to incorporate things slowly. Maybe I can buy enough fabric or a pattern once a month. Maybe I should just make do for a little while longer. It's not like we have extra money to spend, even on something I see to be good and worthy. I will probably buy some "summer" fabric in a month or two when it all goes on sale and make some dresses for Jordyn next year. By buying off season fabric, you can usually get a good deal. Plus, there is a fabric store in downtown Olympia and I wonder if the prices there might be better. I don't know what it is like and I'm NOT going to take the kids there for the first time!!! Figuring out how I am going to handle the cold winter months is still up in the air. Not really for me, but for Jordyn. She wore plenty of skirts with tights last winter, but exclusively might be a little much for both of us. Yet another decision to make...