Tuesday, October 19, 2010

An Open Letter to Clothing Manufacturers

Dear sirs and madams,

I am a 61 year old woman.  I am not fat and I am not thin.  I have more bulk in the middle than I would like. Some of my friends have more hips than they did or a bigger tush.  In other words, we aren't what we used to be.
On the other hand, we aren't our mothers either.  Matchy-matchy elastic waist pants and floral tops or animal print tops are not for us--well, at least not most of us.  I don't want to wear what my mom wore at sixty. 
I was part of the generation that stopped wearing girdles and wore pantyhose instead.  We gave up our skirts and blouses for jeans and tops.  We made pants suitable for office attire.  We burned our bras for heaven sake!
And now, you plan on dressing us like our moms who stayed home and took care of things and hardly ever worked outside the home!  Well, I won't do it and I know my friends won't either.
Now, on the other hand, I don't want to dress like my 22 year old niece either.  The "retro" look is something I already wore--when my body looked like I wanted it to.  I don't want to wear jeans that are "low rise".  I've got no hips to hold them up and I have a muffin top no matter what kind of jeans I wear.  I don't want to wear what they call "mom" jeans either.
I don't want to live the rest of my life in sports clothing either.  Or sweats.  Surely you can think of some other alternatives.  Oh, and that stretch fabric that clings to all our lumps and bumps?  You can lose that too.
Now maybe if I had a lot of money, there are clothes out there that are perfect for me.  But I am on a fixed income and I want to travel and enjoy myself.  I seldom have to get dressed up.  I just want to look up to date and casually chic.  Is that so much to ask?
I know I'm probably a candidate for What Not to Wear but I don't want to wear jackets and camis or chiffon tops or heels for that matter.  I'd fall off the heels...I have a hard enough time walking in the shoes I have!
Getting dressed every day is a chore instead of a pleasure.  Shopping which used to be my favorite sport is now depressing.  Can't someone out there in the clothing business try a little harder.
Put away the polyester matching pants and tops and give us some nice looking, comfortable clothes to wear.

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