Friday, January 19, 2007

Make me over

It was when the weather suddenly turned warm and humid, that I had a wardrobe crisis. Where I live it's only really warm for a couple of months a year, so I have an excuse for having mainly winter/autumn work clothes - long pants, leather coat, tweedy skirts, ankle boots (to wear with the trousers), knee boots (to wear with the skirts) and tops with long sleeves and little natural fibre, all mostly in black or a similarly slimming shade.

Add to that the fact that my waist has spread somewhat since after The Little Madam's gestation and birth, plus the fact that I now wear only shoes I can walk home in, and what I can actually wear to work on a not-cold day is down to one skirt, no shoes and two tops which only look good with trousers.

Actually, it's not quite that bad. Last weekend I spent my baby-free exercise time at the shops, searching for summer outfits. I came home with two cleavage-y tops and one pair of floaty, drapey trousers which I can't wear until I get them hemmed up (the shortness of my legs is the bane of my style-life. I can never buy full-length trousers or skirts and just wear them the next day.).

Common sense would tell me that I'm only going to be working for another 6 weeks or so, so it's a waste of money buying any more nice gear that can't be machine-washed. But common sense has never stopped me in the past.

I've got three Trinny and Susannah books on reserve at the library though. If those two What Not to Wear dudesses can't help me find a couple of decent ensembles, I don't know who can.

9 comments:

Angela said...

Good luck on the clothing front. Since I had my son I have had clothing problems. Everything is either too big or too small. What a pain.

Violet said...

You too eh? I don't know what the fashions are like over in the States, but here it seems that maternity-tops are all the rage! Which is not a good thing if you've still got a tummy from when you really were in maternity tops.

Kazzer said...

Where the hell do people get clothes to fit? I'm a size 18/20 so low waisters are really not suitable. Anything that reaches the waist is either voluminous or camel foot. And I've got a lot more shops to choose from.
Happy hunting Violet!

Avery's mom said...

I'm ready to get a new wardrobe. Two years of being pregnant and shrinking.... I have the shape of a rejected Playdough ball. nothing seems to work

Avery's mom said...

thank god I get to wear Scrubs at my work.

LK said...

I too had to readdress how I wear clothes as I now have new bits that just don't fit into my old clothes - I live in perpetual hope though.

On the shortness front though, you are not alone. More often than not I have to take a brand new pair of trousers and unpick the bottom seams to try to find an extra couple of inches of height. And skirts? I just don't go there, they are always the wrong length.

Violet said...

kazzer: 18/20? No way!

avery's mom: One of the mums I know took to wearing control-top knickers to control the flab, but I just don't want to go there!

nyx: I suppose an advantage of being shorter than average, over being taller than average, is that there's always enough material in those trouser legs...

Amanda said...

I have short legs too but it is tops that are the bane of my life. My stomach, always on the bulgy side, has not gone back in proportion to the rest of me post child bearing. Nothing fits. I have no decent looking summer tops at all right now. I've got to the point I don't even want to shop for any because I don't know what I'd wear to the shop and I doubt I'd be able to find anything anyway. Still I guess summer probably won't last long, eh? I can probably just manage with crappy t-shirts and avoid going anywhere dressy for the next few weeks & I do have a few autumnal weight things I can wear. Yes, I know it is pathetic! Maybe it really is time to do some toning exercises.

Violet said...

mtnw: I did find a nice top at Max, but it's cleaveagey and I don't know if you're a cleaveagey sort of person. I really hate resorting to my crappy clothers.