In Search of a Style

“What’s your style?” my friend KC asked. To which I responded, “I haven’t the slightest idea. I don’t think I have one.” I am working with KC and LR, a couple of neighborhood women, on an interesting new project to give some direction to our wardrobes.

We have a “consultant”, who just happens to be the KC’s multi-talented daughter SC, who lives in Chicago, where she works as a reflexologist, a life coach, a wardrobe consultant, and who is now on Fox News at least once a month talking about personal relationship issues.

SC has agreed to come east to breathe new life into our expiring wardrobes. When the style issue came up, we were meeting over lunch to get our homework assignments. SC has asked each of us to:

– Find pictures of ourselves that we like.
– Find pictures in magazines or on the Internet of clothes we like.
– Write down any statements we heard growing up concerning grooming or clothing choices. For example, KC remembers her mother saying, “All the pretty girls will no longer be pretty at 40,” meaning it was OK not to be so pretty as long as you were smart.
– Make sure we have a well-fitted bra.

I love homework. I came home and immediately started looking for pictures, initially saying I didn’t like any picture ever taken of me. I actually found a handful that I do like.

I flipped through a recent NYT fashion magazine, realizing the only clothes I even remotely identified with were the casual clothes from places like GAP. The high fashion has absolutely no place in my life.

The only thing I remember my mother saying was that I would probably be a late-bloomer like she was, describing the onset of her rather large breasts as happening when she was around 17. My 17th birthday came and went and I realized I apparently missed that gene.

Which leads to the last bit of homework. At 59 I had never been properly fitted for a bra, not until yesterday that is. It was really not the ordeal I had imagined. A very nice girl took measurements and kept bringing me bras to try on. I finally agreed that two of them fit well and were relatively comfortable. I much prefer them to the ones I have recently been wearing.

The three of us 50-somethings are planning a couple of other prep activities before SC hits town in September. We’ll spend some time in Borders flipping through fashion magazines so we have a better idea of what we like. We’ll go to a place like Filene’s and try on clothes for each other to try to figure out in advance what looks good on us and what we like.

SC will spend several hours with each of us, looking at our current wardrobe and asking us questions. She will ultimately give us recommendations for things to get rid of and for future purchases. She will determine our style, finally answering that question that totally eludes me.

In the fall, we’re planning a road trip to Chicago, where SC can take us shopping. I’m already trying to figure out how to compensate this talented young person for spending time with the three of us.

And by the way, she was one of the best babysitters we ever had!