We really don’t know?

While I was hanging out at the mall yesterday, waiting for the water to recede, I was engaged in my favorite sport, People Watching. I was going for the ‘What not to wear’ theme – and there were plenty of examples. Very few people actually dress in a way that is particularly becoming to them, personally. In MY opinion, of course. Of the dozens of people wandering by, only 2 women were what I would call ‘well put together’ in their dress – appropriate-for-their-age style, appropriate-for-their-skin color, appropriate-for-their-body fit, appropriate-for-the-setting look. There was one other young woman that looked OK standing still but who couldn’t walk on her 4-inch heels without an odd shuffling gait so she was out of the running as well.

There were knit skirts over skin-tight jeans. Wild prints on fat people. Too-short, too-long, too-tight just about everything. Odd colors, peculiar styles, bad fits. One mother walked by wearing jeans and a sweater, a coat and boots, and she was dragging a little girl with shorts and a sleeveless cotton shirt and sandals on. I didn’t mind the individual looks – I just minded that they were obviously living in different seasons. There was midriff, mid-thigh, mid-just-about-anything to be seen. And what’s with the kind of pants that ‘lift and separate’ a woman’s butt? Good grief!

I myself was there in baggy and faded jeans and a men’s XL flannel shirt. A true fashion authority, obviously.

Why is this so hard for us?