The Age Limit

I sit in front of my laptop wearing a crystal tiara hoping it will act as a receptor for a little divine inspiration. I hear a voice in my head. It is not God or an angel – it is my mother in law. She is 6 foot tall with the build and voice of a Viking goddess. Those of you who know her can see her in a helmet with horns belting out opera. In fact she does belt out opera minus the headdress. My recollection is of her asking curtly “When are you going to start dressing your age?”

What is the age limit, am I driving it?

First of all I consider the source. My mother in law doesn’t have time for trends. She considers fashion silly – and sticks to basics. Then the questions start rolling. Will I be the granny in gold spandex pants and drippy skinned arms adorned with rhinestone cuffs? When is trendy tasteless?

Let me clarify I have never owned, or will ever own a pair of gold spandex pants. I’ll leave that look to the lady I saw at the fresh market last week with bleached blonde hair, teased bangs, fake nails, leathered skin and 80’s clothes. It’s better to be sporting the trends of the season than the bad ones from the past.

Trendy or tasteless – who is the judge? Here lies the problem. What looks good is subjective and style is relative. Someone may find the trend of jeans at a semiformal event tacky – yet current trend dictates nice jeans paired with a flowing blouse, statement jewelry and high heels dressy.

Personal style does not have an age limit. Fashion allows people to express themselves - bohemian, preppy, retro, sporty, Jersey, city girl, cow girl, school marm... The possibilities are endless.

If you care to take the time and don’t take yourself too seriously….the real question is when are you going to stop being stylish?

Getting the Max

Now that I am older...let me rephrase that – now that I am savvy I want more. Yes – I want more for my money, more for my time, more for my efforts. This applies to my wardrobe these days as well. The economy, for one, is cramping my style. Forever a clothes horse I am ashamed to say I have tossed 3 month trends out the door with only a nanosecond of thought. I justify this by reminding myself most of them were sale items.

Spring is peeking around the corner and my closet is calling for new additions. I am forced to think what key pieces I will narrow my shopping down to. Fifteen years ago I wouldn’t have given a second thought to paying big bucks for a teeny bikini or micro mini. For that matter, I wouldn’t have given a thought to limiting my shopping. Today give me the maxi – the maxi dress that is.



It’s perfect. The maxi dress can be dressed down with sandals for day. For evening pair a maxi dress with strappy heels and key jewelry pieces for effortless elegance. Maximum coverage – I love those two words. No dieting is involved, pesky veins can be hidden, and the maxi comes in so many styles. You actually will pay for the amount of fabric you get – not the amount of fabric that isn’t there. Anyone can wear a maxi dress. The key is finding a style that suits your frame. Get the most for your summer and try a maxi dress on for size.

Where, oh where is the sunshine???

If you live in the Midwest - a land of seemingly endless winter you know what I am talking about. The first sprinkle of snow after Thanksgiving promises the white Christmas we so anticipate. However, after 4 months of gray skies - the winter wonderland loses it's luster.

This Midwest girl's answer to staving off the winter blues is buying herself some happiness in a bottle. No - I'm not talking about 10 Cane Rum. I'm talking about adding a little bit of sunshine to my bountiful collection of nail polish.

The color of choice is OPI Conga-Line Coral from OPI's Spring 2009 South Beach line. According to In-Style Magazine coral is one of the hot colors to watch for this summer.

When I look down at the splash of color on my nails - it gets me through the day knowing summer is coming, and so is the sun, sun, sun!!