spacebug | On Fashion, or lack thereof.

I like costumes and dressing up and think I do pretty well in terms of wearing things that are flattering when I make an effort, but, usually I just can't be bothered. The biggest strides forward in my wardrobe over the last few years have been more fitted tee shirts and jeans that actually fit me. Because I have a casual job that allows such things, I wear jeans and tee shirts pretty much every day. I have kind of an arbitrary/self-imposed set of guidelines on what I will and will not wear to work- basically I don't wear printed shirts or jeans that are torn. (Quite the dress code, I'm aware.) I dislike carrying bags or purses- I don't like having a thing with everything important in it to keep track of, put down, have stolen, or lose. On the other hand, while I've worn a wallet-chain for the last several years, I also dislike how it looks- I wear it completely out of practicality as it's what keeps me from losing my wallet, from having my wallet slip out of my back pocket and into a toilet (seriously!), or from forgetting either my wallet or my keys whenever I leave my house. I think of it more as a mitten-clip. The wallet-and-keys-attached-to-me thing is also a lot of the reason I rarely wear skirts, but a lot of it is that I just feel more comfortable and myself wearing pants. I'd like to not wear jeans all summer, but I also tend to think that shorts look goofy, so... yeah, not many options after that. I like some cropped-type pants, but it's so easy for those to look so much like Mom Clothes. I started looking around on fashion websites and stuff, and ugh. Everything that's "trendy", at least to me, looks like 1979 and 1984 partied too hard and puked all over the place. Brown hippie mumus? The resurgence of neon? Leggings + poncho? Seriously? These things are what is "in"?

I did a cursory look around a couple of stores for a dress to wear to the derby award ceremony (we generally get all fancied up for this) and gaaaah. Everything was hit by an ugly stick.

I don't know if I'm just too picky, or too much of a tomboy, or what. I have few of the problems a lot of women have with finding clothes they like- I fit into standard sizing better than a lot of people I know, I'm in good shape, and while I could probably stand to know more about how to dress for my body type (someone at a dress shop once told me I'm long waisted, or was it short waisted? I don't know what that means for me, practically), I don't have any issues with my shape or size and I realize I'm lucky that my natural shape of tall, thin, and flat chested is still pretty much the fashion order of the day.

Part of it is money- I find it really difficult to justify spending money on clothes when I already *have* clothes. But, I also seriously still have shirts I've had since high school that I still wear. I don't make a ton of money and I like to think that I'm non-materialistic, I dislike accumulating STUFF, and I'd rather spend money on things that I can use to make things, or on having experiences.

And then there's getting attention for dressing a certain way, whether you ask for it or enjoy it or whatever. I kind of scratch whatever "hey, lookit me!" itch I have by choosing to wear spiked-up very-red hair, or very small, very shiny, very short shorts when I play derby, you know?

Anyway. Just thinking.

On Fashion, or lack thereof.

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