Fashioning my Fifties

I like fashion. Ok that may not be entirely accurate. It's not really fashion per se that I'm into. It's more about having fun with clothes and putting together my own look, fashionable or not. I confess I like to buy clothes and accessories. It gives me a lift to get something pretty to add to my wardrobe. It's my grown up version of playing dress up when I create different looks by mixing and matching pieces. I don't have many hard and fast rules for navigating the outfits for this adventure, but I do have a few general guidelines. I believe as a Christian woman, I should dress modestly and in a manner that celebrates my femininity.I realize modest is a pretty non specific term, meaning different things to different people. I don't think I have to be entirely covered up from head to toe. Rather, I try to avoid anything too tight. Not that I want to swim in my clothes. It's ok to show some shape, but I try to use discretion. Showing that I have curves is one thing; outlining in graphic detail every roll and indentation of this middle aged body that is about 100 lbs overweight is quite another! Besides avoiding the tackiness of too tight, I also try not to wear anything too low or too short. Too low for me is flashing cleavage. Too short would be anything more than a few inches above the knee. I figure no one really needs to know the color of my bra or the pattern on my undies. Other than workout wear or grubbies for a really messy job, I'm a skirts or dresses girl. Yep u read that right. I don't normally wear pants. What? How can I live without jeans? Strangely, somehow I have managed. Though I do have three or four denim skirts and a denim jumper. Hey, I am after all a homeschooling mom, so I gotta have one of those, right? There are a few reasons I wear just skirts and dresses. But one of them is that from the time I was little, I've always preferred them. I am very much a girly girl, and one of the ways I express that is by wearing exclusively girl stuff. Ok I suppose guys could wear skirts, but generally speaking, dresses and skirts are something special just for girls.I also usually don't spend much on clothing. Don't get me wrong; I drool over well made designer pieces, but I just don't have that kind of money to spend on outfits.You might say I'm a Nordstroms girl on a thrift store budget! Speaking of thrift stores, I love them! It's just so fun to see what's there from week to week.You never know what you will find.I'm pretty picky though. Any clothes I get have to look new or very gently used. I also look at the clearance racks at department stores. I've found things for as little as $3 at times. So that's how I do fashion. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find items that are frugal ,feminine, modest,and plus size, especially when you stick to dresses and skirts and buy mostly casual things, but I'm living proof it can be done. And not only done, but fun! I may be fifty, and I may be plus sized, but settle for boring and frumpy? Not this girl!