Whitney and I both have young and hip husbands in the all-important 18 to 34 demographic while we are in the less desirable 35+ bucket ourselves. It is from this vantage point that I flipped through How Not to Look Old and wondered, “is she talking to me? (or my mom?)”
I got the book sent to me for free by the publisher and immediately put it in the pile with books For Other People and went on with my day.
I like to think of myself as “wash and go” or better “low maintenance” and that’s all well and good when you are young and taut. When I used to spend my weekends in college in my pajama bottoms, I’m sure that I still looked pretty darn cute. If I couldn’t be bothered with makeup in my twenties, I still looked like I was in my twenties. Know what I mean?
Then I found Fussy’s Frump Fighting Manifesto during my Internets prowling the other week. Mrs. Fussypants has five sons (one newborn) and proclaims “we can’t both look good, it’s me or the house” (oops, we both look sloppy!) and “respect the rack!!” among other tips. Since reading that list, I’ve purged more t-shirts that don’t flatter my body and started questioning this whole topic.
With the last five pounds of baby #2 hugging my middle and my Berkeley casual attitude, I think I’m on the slippery slope to frumpsville. Oh crap.
I went back to the book. I furiously read it as fast (and as casually as I could) so I could soak up all the important parts without letting on to Alec that I care. I learned about letting go of ill-fitting jeans and embracing natural looking make-up. She offers tested product brands to try as well as strategies for staying in fashion without being a slave to it. That last bit appeals to my industrial engineering practicality, my ever-present frugality, AND my low maintenance ideal.
Lucky for me, my Mother In Law visited this weekend and she saw the book. And she picked it up. And she casually read and memorized all she could without taking notes or acting like she cared too much. So, I offered it to her and she accepted. Because you can’t be 35 and have that book sitting on your coffee table. Nor can you really ever give it as a gift.
Oh good, she is talking to my mom, she says “boomers” right here. Whew!
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So my mom, who I am visiting this weekend, told me don’t bother bringing clothes, I can wear hers. We are roughly the same size. I couldn’t bring myself to say, “I know you’re totally cool for a mom (a grandma), but still, you are almost 60, and I don’t think I should be caught dead, in LA (where I’m from) especially, in anything owned by a 60 year old.”
I’ll probably eat my words since the woman wears Joe’s Jeans and $60 designer t-shirts. She promises me her clothes are cool and that she bought them on Melrose.
very cool.
ok this hits a wee bit too close for home. i’ve always been the no makeup, jeans and tee shirt kind of gal. but i too am clinging to that five pound muffin top that’s danglin over the waistband of the lowriders that are stretchy and convince me that i’m back in the size i was before the baby. yeah keep telling yourself that, red. i think that somewhere i know i need to make a change. and that’s why i found myself watching “tim gunn’s guide to style” obsessively even though that veronica girl was kind of nasty and cold. time to open the “undergarment” drawer and work outward.
i should (gulp) find this book.