What a Drag it is Getting Old - Clothes

Since surgery is not an option, I have got to learn to live with this stomach.  And, I'm going to live with it like my unwed pregnant grandmother did in 1940 ... I'm going to hide it. 

Let's face it, grandma failed, but I hope to have better luck. 


I use to throw on anything I wanted and I looked cute.  Now, I have to really think about it.  Now, I have to find clothes to cover my vast waist land.  

I'm an engineer by education.  I can figure out a lot of things, but clothes were never on the top of the list.  The really aren't for most engineers I know, female or not.  In other parts of the country, I feel confident about my clothing choices.  But that confidence usually dwindles the further I move away from the arrivals gate at LaGuradia airport.  My clothing choices are comfortable workout clothes, jeans, sweatshirts, and big, bulky sweaters.   Guess what ... I've learned all are big no-no's in the Big Apple.  A stylist told me a few basic rules, during a clothing intervention. 

1)  Workout clothes are only good if you're going to, coming home from, or involved in a workout. 

2)  Jeans are too casual, unless you're between the ages of 10 and 16. 

3)  Sweatshirts are too casual unless your coming home from high school practice, or Ivy League colleges.

4)  Big bulky sweaters are just to hide big, bulky people.  You're not fooling anyone.

I didn't know these rules when I purchased my clothes, of course.  The workout clothes are worth the investment since I do workout a lot, but other than that ... well, I look like a tourist, a pregnant one.

So what am I too do, besides wear double Spanxs and pretend to be from Canada?  What ever American company does these days.

Outsource.  

Luckily, the cause of my pain, a city full of fashionistas who want to work in the fashion industry, is also my saviour.  Some may be quick to criticize, but other are quick to offer assistance.  And some are even quick to offer assistance at a reasonable rate per hour without making you feel like a fat slob, even when you are not.   I've found a woman, Sadia, who has had three kids, a "mummy tummy", and the experience in dressing models.  Ok, the experience of dressing models really doesn't help, since they are basically pre-teen, size nothing, paper dolls.  But, she also knows how to minimize the trouble areas and maximise the good areas on real woman, not just paper dolls.  We all have them, good areas not paper dolls, but tend to get myopic.  I know I have.  I look at myself and all I can see is the mummy tummy.  Not good for one's ego, but worse for improving the situation.

Sadia loves to shop, which is good because I hate to shop.  It may be one reason I'm not good at it, but it has never been fun.  If I buy something in the store or online, it usually looks bad at home.  Something is always wrong ... color, cut, fabric, fit, whatever.  Then there are the stores.  They can be huge, crowded, racks and racks of "coal" while I try to find a "diamond".  I usually just end up with the coal ... or workout clothes, jeans, sweatshirts, or a big bulky sweater.  But by going out with a pro, the experience becomes pleasurable and fast.  A few questions, such as "What do you like to wear?  What is your style?  What's most important to you, comfort, fashion? etc."  And then we are off.  Crazy, overcrowded stores become diamond mines.  I've found a person who not only knows fashion as her career, but has also had three children!  She knows how to dress for the after baby body, which as become just the body.  We had a wonderful shopping experience, and I didn't even spend a lot.  I told her, "Schedule me for at least once every six months.  You are my new BFF -- Best Fashionista Friend."