Fashion Sense...Or Cents?

In today's world the idea of what is acceptable as trendy fashion is just as popular as what diet plan you are on at the moment. Many conversations are initiated by "I love what you are wearing," or "Where did you get that wonderful outfit?" Nowadays what you wear is who you are defined as an individual. Most importantly where you purchased your outfit reigns high on the social ladder. It will determine who will associate with you when at a party or when someone decides to not give you the time of day. I can't figure out for the life of me what makes an outfit bought at Walmart any less attractive than a so-called name brand outfit identical to it that costs ten times as much in price. If the cost of an outfit is what makes it so popular then why are store chains such as K-mart and Walmart so popular in which to purchase clothing items from regularly?

Interestingly, I find garage sales an even cheaper venue but then again you can get name brand items for low budget prices. For instance, I have gotten NY jeans for as little as fifty cents per pair. Does that make them less attractive on my nicely proportioned back side? The men that find them attractive have had no complaints to the fact I spent such a minimal amount on such a fine quality jean. The question remains as such: what would you spend and what fashion would you wear that is merely a female-oriented one? Perhaps it is just the women that care about such trivial things? I have found no male alive that would stop looking at an attractive woman merely because her jeans were bought at K-mart thus proving my previous comments.

Primarily, women are the reason for all the fashion hype. The reason we have to change our wardrobes every spring and fall is in order to keep up with the trends that some overzealous, money hungry fashion designer says is the new preferred styles for the upcoming season. Who gives them the right to dictate our clothing preferences anyway? Who gave them the license to say what is in and what is out? I feel like a fairly intelligent woman. Therefore, I can manage to pick what looks attractive on my own body, right? If I can't figure out what looks appealingly pleasing on my middle-aged body by now then something is wrong! Hey, there is always the option in sticking with jogging pants and tennis shoes (which, by the way, are very comfortable).

Instinctively, I realize that the fashion trends are aimed at the young teens and the twenty-something women in general. Admittedly, I am proudly classified as being part of that middle-aged and/or mature demographic. Still, I feel that the modern trends for our targeted age bracket are somewhat stifled. Outdated fashion that contemporary designers seem to think we enjoy or crave were thrown out in the sixties. With the pointed toed shoes or the spiked high heels on display neither one of these selections are comforting or beneficial to us aging women. The scuttlebutt about how the pointed toed shoes are going out of style for the upcoming season is apparent (which by the way is long overdue).

Consequently I believe that if men were made to wear these "shoes of torture" for more then ten minutes they would have been classified out of style years ago. Some other styles have been around since the seventies that include the large floral prints and the repulsively cheap-looking alligator bags. I have to admit that even though I am of the older generation I still found these choices a bit loud and outlandish.

I think these alleged "fashion designers" should have advisors on their staffs that include women of all ages, cultural backgrounds and locations that should be assimilated into the mix. Maybe they should do polls on what us "older women" prefer or don't prefer to wear? Ultimately, keeping the fashion trends for the youngsters can remain in tact and letting us mature women pick and choose our own styles at will would certainly be welcomed.

Recently I read an article on the new fashion trends and discovered that Low rider jeans are now out and about. I am very elated about this surprising change in style. As I watch the young girls at the mall it is nice to know they will be wearing jeans this season that thankfully cover up more of their revealing anatomy than the previous year. After all, seeing their underwear and much of their backsides (not to mention the obvious frontal views that gave little to the imagination) was a bit too much for this conservative mother of a former teenaged daughter to handle.

There's no doubt that millennium-based fashion is a big money-maker which means big business. Hence, the older I get the less interested I am in what is considered "hip" style or what is "new and approved" for the upcoming seasons. I think blue jeans (or in my case black jeans in particular) are always a common but consistently popular choice. Whether it is bell-bottom style (by the way is on its way out) or boot cut that will always be popular to us country girls, jeans or cotton shirts it doesn't matter-these items will always be in demanding style. Many heavy women prefer baggy clothing. In contrast, many skinny women prefer form-fitting clothes. Other than this little difference for contrasting sized women the choice should always be up to us in the long run. Baggy or form- fitting clothing, when done with notable taste, can be desirable for any woman of varying size and stature.

As a rule of thumb, I love to pick the styles that look attractive on me. I would also consider leaving the choices of what to wear to other intelligent, middle-aged women that are my respected peers. Opting to ridiculously wearing tight leopard skin pants at forty-five or fifty years of age just to be "in style" is a darn disgrace. Inherently, there is nothing wrong regarding all the well dressed, classy women out there enjoying dress pants, suit coats or knee high shirts that still show off their fine and defining bodies. Since when did maturity and dressing classy become a fashion-induced crime? As long as they keep the basics in tact (such as fine fitting dress pants and dress blouses that go with suit coats or sweaters) then I think us middle-aged women will tolerate the young fashions for the teenyboppers and their young adult counterparts.

As for myself, I prefer the simplicity of tight black jeans and t-shirts. Occasionally, I champion flannel shirts for warmth but I can also look mighty fine in a black skirt and silk blouse. If you don't change the basics then I will be content with whatever new fashions that are thrown at me. One would be wasting their time if they expect me to wear tacky animal skins and/or spiked shoes as an intentional fashion choice. Bottom line: I prefer picking my own wardrobe...plain and simple. After all these years I am sure I know what looks better on my own body then someone I have never met or proclaims to have a "professional eye" for fashion. I am certain they can't even come close to defining my style of dress or my likes/dislikes just because they have an earned degree in fashion design.

As long as we have young girls parading around we will have fashion statements of all distinctions to acknowledge. These gals all want to look, talk and think alike. Yet in the same breath they say they want to be their own person. Go figure! They want to be themselves as long as it fits the required "in-look!" So I guess the designers will always have a prosperous job market for their "fashion sensibilities". In the meanwhile, middle-aged women will have to tolerate the floral prints, high-heeled shoes, nostalgic looks of the sixties and seventies or the teenybopper appearances. In essence, do we really have much of a choice in choosing our cherished, suitable wardrobe? It makes you want to wonder at times if this is really the case at hand.

However, the news is not all that discouraging. There is always a bright side to everything as it is often said. With concepts such as garage sales to consider as an alternative route women out there with the same tastes are willing to sell off their precious wardrobes for mere pennies. For those resilient women they need to be applauded and thanked. Without such sacrifices the rest of us would be left to linger in predictable fashion limbo. These independent-thinking women make us all proud with their classy clothing, touted middle-aged styles and willingness to share with the rest of us their respectable tastes and sound fashion sense.

Does today's fashion scene really make sense or is it just a money-making scheme that cunningly preys on silly-minded youthful suspects? Parents might as well pull out their credit cards and allow purchases of new clothing according to what is in style at the time, huh? Is it common sense or cents? Only you can decide that question for sure. My educated guess is cents as I may be taking the cynical approach. This is only one opinion as expressed with incredulous forethought. True, it comes from a middle-aged woman that loves her basic jeans and t-shirts. One must decide what looks good on them while weighing the consequences.

Once again...do we really have a choice in what we wear for our satisfaction? The fashion experts say no. I say forget the high brow designers and bring on the economical garage sales!