Posts Tagged ‘clothing’

It fit yesterday

// November 9th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // children, clothing

There has been some unauthorized growing by the children. Not one of them filled out the proper paperwork declaring their intent to have growth spurts. They completely disregarded the two weeks notice rule. Since the penalties for unauthorized growth are getting to wear shorts in the winter, the children don’t really take seriously my need to know that nothing in their closet fits more than five minutes before the school bus arrives in the morning.

Neither boy teen nor the 6-y-o are willing to go shopping for their new clothing. They are also disinterested in trying on the clothing that I buy and bring home. I am occasionally able to convince them to try on one thing for size, but usually they become oddly philosophical at my request. “Why? Why do I need to ‘try’ it? Can’t I just wear it? Does it matter?” Shopping for the boys is a guessing game with only one guess and the winner gets children in jeans that fit while the loser has sons happily running all over town looking like scarecrows.

Is there some crossover version of Wii Fit and Sims that could size children correctly for clothing while they are hopping around killing zombies, racing cars shooting things?

Whatcha wearing?

// September 30th, 2011 // No Comments » // clothing

Yesterday, there was very minor kerfluffle because coverage of an event by our local alt-media included color commentary of wardrobes. Shoes and gender discrimination seemed to be the focus of the discussion. Deep down, it was a misdirection by the main complainant, but everyone chimed in and it snowballed into pie recipes.

Anyone with a small town in their history knows all too well that the community papers which have almost disappeared, use clothing descriptions in articles about social gatherings as a writing art form. Small town columnists use carefully worded descriptions of attendee outfits to say everything or nothing about the event and the people there. The mention of a designer label could be used to praise the wearer’s taste or hint at illicitly gained money depending on the writer’s intent.

Good writing about the costumes that people choose for their public persona is neither sexist nor pointless. As for shoes, I notice footwear that other people wear and if you are in earshot you will hear me notice it. I love spiky, chunky, shiny and silly shoes that I see on other women. I do marvel at their ability to wear extremely fancy shoes when my feet hurt just thinking about wearing them. Shoes are art and it takes an athlete to wear some of them. The world just seems a little bit more beautiful because of those shoes.

Once upon a time, I sat in Market Square watching hordes of teens and preteen girls dressed in shirts worn as dresses and cowboy boots. Just before a migraine took over my ability to function, I commented on Facebook about the silliness of this fashion trend just as my mother would have mumbled complaints via soup cans on a string when I went through a phase of oversized t-shirts and slouch boots with leggings. I think the shirt and cowboy boots look is ridiculous outside of a bar or club. Someone used my comment as an excuse to tell me my backside is big (no duh) and then posted on their own wall that I was calling the slut walk participants sluts.

I was there for the slut walk and the cowboy boot/shirt teens and girls were not participating in it. I did not call them sluts and the entire point of the slut walk is that women don’t “ask” to be raped based on what they wear. That has absolutely zero to do with my feelings about a fashion trend. I will discuss issues with you, but I am too tired and time is too short to deal with misdirection.

I get that the next six weeks are going to be brutal for the people of Knoxville who feel strongly about our next Mayor. Since we can’t unfriend everyone, let’s try to focus on the issues instead of attacking each other.

They never fall for this

// July 30th, 2011 // No Comments » // children, clothing

“Yes, it used to be <- insert name of older sibling here ->‘s, but this is a gender neutral <- insert article of clothing here ->. You’ll look fine.”

Get off my lawn – underwear edition

// March 24th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // people

Not even during my pregnancies, did I ever wear granny panties. With that nearly tma disclaimer out of the way, I sometimes think that the evil accounting person who budgeted less fabric for Victoria’s Secret underwear has conspired with their marketing department to pull the greatest advertising trick of all time. They have billions of women convinced that underwear is not supposed to cover the entire backside. Yes, those models have beautiful bottoms, but they are not wearing underwear that fit. Women have been marketed badly fitting clothing so that manufacturers can use less resources on their products. Everyone notices when packages of food contain less product. Why don’t they notice that they are getting less clothing? Just say no to this tomfoolery. If you want your fanny hanging out, go commando. If you are wearing underwear, wear underwear that fit.

Make sure they are clean in case you get in an accident.

First world problems – clothing

// October 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // children

Living in the shadow of the mountains, our seasons are a month of winter and a month of summer separated by several months of beautiful spring and fall. The transition to our brief spell of winter causes mornings of shivering and afternoons of sweating. I’m sorry. I mean glowing.

Every morning this week, I’ve dressed the youngest children in jeans, long sleeves and coats. Every afternoon this week, I’ve been subjected to complaints about me “making” them wear coats. Amy comes home from school daily missing her socks and wearing her jeans rolled up above her knees. I caught Evan with my scissors just seconds before he cut the sleeves off of his shirt.

This morning, the children left for school in shorts, hoodies and coats. I thought it would make the afternoons less miserable for them. Instead, they spent the wait for the bus complaining because I “made” them wear shorts.

Tomorrow, I’m sending them to school in jammies and bathrobes.

just like daddy

// May 20th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // clothing, Doug, kid quotes

First night: “Why can’t I sleep nekkid like Daddy does sometimes?”

Second night: “Can I just wear jammie bottoms and no shirt like Daddy wears?”

Third night: “Doug, I need you to start wearing panties and a gown at night.”

big girl underoos

// April 8th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // clothing, me

Since candy and education are so controversial (who knew?), let’s talk about the clothing that women wear under their clothes. It had been more than four years since I bought new under the clothes clothing for my bottom half. The situation was getting to the point that it would be very embarrassing if I was in an accident. I took advantage of an online bargain and ordered a few pairs late one night while staring at my computer. Even though I ordered from a store that is in the mall down the road, it took almost three weeks for the few teeny pieces of fabric and elastic to arrive. When I say teeny, I mean that in the four years since I last bought this exact same size and style, the actual pattern has changed so that there truly is less fabric. Oddly, the new style fits better than the old style, it just took some time to adjust to the new cut. I was caught off-guard by the pair that was named “large blue rose” that should have been named “covered in GLITTER” to warn the buyer. The vaglitter result is not a good look for middle-aged moms.

The under the clothes clothing for my upper half was an equally dire situation. For the past two years I have only had one of these items that are worn daily. The wires escaped from all of the others and without the wires, they were pretty pointless. So, the past two years have been spent standing beside the dryer waiting for it to finish drying that item or running around the house trying to find the item, as it apparently has some kind of invisibility power. Unfortunately, it didn’t have any cloaking or reduction abilities when it was on my body. It did have straps that were constantly trying to sneak down my arms to, I don’t know, maybe they wanted to join the missing wires. Aaaaanyway, I had a few pairs of new lower items, so I determined that I would find one new upper item.

I went in the mall to the store where big girls go to buy their underoos and filled my arms with one of every kind in the hopes that something would fit. The burly dressing room guard stopped me. No. The size ZERO, cheerful, twenty-something blocked my path. “When was the last time you were fitted?” The honest answer to that question would have been never, but I politely said “a while” and before the words were finished, I was accosted by a tape measure. Actually, it was a quick and painless measure once, measure twice and then she looked at the pile of potential purchases in my hands. “Ohhh, those are WAY too big for you. You need two sizes smaller. I’ll be right back!” If she hadn’t raced away so quickly, she would have felt the burn of my evil death ray eyes. Smaller? Grrr. She was back much too quickly with only three items. Determined to prove her wrong, I tried one on and rang the bell that brought her back to my oddly lit dressing room. “Oops. You need a double d instead of a single. Be right back.” My ego lifted slightly at the prospect of something that sounded like an improvement over the two number sizes smaller. When I tried the double letter item on, I shouted instead of pushing the button. “It fits!”

It may be pathetic, but I walked out of that dressing room clutching that wonderful under the clothing item of clothing like it was a Gold medal that I had just won in the Underwear Olympiad. Now that I have rediscovered the thrill of new, properly fitting, under the clothes clothing, I want to find some that MATCH. Hold the glitter.

dramatic pauses included

// March 24th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // clothing, kid quotes, preschoolers

The 4-y-o dressed himself in his favorite jeans and his favorite shirt. He went through a series of odd poses as he studied the clothing on his tiny frame. “Mom?” “What?” “I . . . look . . . awesome.” “Yes, you do.” “I . . . am a cool dude.”

We have entered the beautiful season when the siren song of the outdoors has the young and old wandering about in a dreamy haze. Because I’m a mean mom who won’t allow the 7-year-old to wear summer clothes to school yet, Amy races inside after school and changes into last year’s too small shorts and tees as though long sleeves are suffocating her. She emerges from her cocoon of well fitting winter clothes chirping cheerfully. “Evan! How can you stand to wear long sleeves and long pants? Want me to bring you better clothes?” “No.” “But, you look hot.” “No. I . . . look . . . awesome.”

Every household needs a mini Shatner.

Dear future me,

// September 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // clothing, parenting, preschoolers

I am writing this from ten years in the past, when Evan was only four. If future me is having a chat about Evan with his therapist or arresting officer, this date might be important. This is the date when I, err you, found all of Evan’s sisters’ underwear stashed on Evan’s little, crib-sized bed. If it was only the 7-y-o’s underwear, I would justify this behavior as proof that girls’ underwear is better, because it has all-over designs, while boys’ underwear only has a design on the back. Alas, the 16-y-o’s underwear were being claimed by Evan as well and big girl undies do not have cute cartoon characters.

If Doug’s, “That’s my boy” reaction turns out to be the explanation for the underwear collecting, future me is probably trying to explain to the police officer why my youngest son is a serial panty snatcher. On the other hand, future me might be explaining Doug’s reaction to Evan’s therapist and we may be looking for a cross-dressing support group for Doug and Evan. Either way, future me deserves a Grande Mocha and an hour alone in a quiet coffee shop. Future me might want to buy a lock for her underwear drawer on the way home from her coffee break.

Love,
Me

I should just wear jammies

// July 9th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // clothing, me

When people connect me with Doug, they always ask excitedly if I juggle. My answer that I can’t walk across the floor without tripping on my own two feet never fails to disappoint them. Their disappointment is nothing compared to how I feel about my Jerry Lewis coordination. Tonight, I had one of those extremely rare outings without children. It came after a full day of child chauffeuring and a PTO gathering. I had less than an hour to check e-mail, make sure nobody was littering on a few websites and change out of my mom uniform. In the back of my mind, I unconsciously knew exactly what I would be wearing to pretend I belonged with the grownups. My mistake was not planning ahead and hiding the outfit far from the reach of children and animals.

I prepared to iron the pink shirt that covers my upper arms and doesn’t *fit too snugly across my chest only to discover something sticky splashed or dripped all down one side. It looked like a child used my clean, folded shirt as a bib while eating a popsicle. I had a silent OCD tantrum inside my head while I aggressively squirted spray ‘n wash on the stains. I grabbed my only hot weather, not-a-t-shirt alternative to the pink shirt and sprayed it with environmentally incorrect starch. As I wondered why the starch shot out in a heavy, thick stream instead of a delicate mist, I realized that I was drenching my second choice shirt in spray ‘n wash. Paralyzed, I stood motionless with the iron in one hand and the stain remover gripped in the other hand. I don’t know how long the Aspie teen was watching my laundry performance art, but I realized there had been an audience when I heard him yelling for Dad to “come look at Mom.”

Doug silently removed the useless items from my hands as I explained in one, breathless sentence why I might as well stay at home for the evening. Before I knew what happened, Doug had kicked me out of the house and directed me to grab a replacement shirt at my favorite Knoxville store. He even called and warned them that I was en route. Fifteen minutes later, I sat in the car and changed into my new-to-me shirt. It also required a change of foundation garment. As I risked blinding and traumatizing the public, I briefly thought, “I’m old. It doesn’t matter.” As soon as I thought it, I realized that I have been changing clothes in the car my entire life. At home or in public, I’m a walking Jerry Lewis routine. Too ridiculous for anyone who doesn’t embrace their inner 12-year-old boy.

*Why do clothing designers think that women have flat chests?

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