So I know you are all wondering, what does a Florida retiree woman wear in this year-round, subtropical wonderland? Well, I have a closet filled with t-shirts, shorts, and capris. This is what I've been wearing every day for the past 4 years. I've never been a fashion maven, although I admire the aesthetics of fashion. I wish I cared more, but I have never had the money or inclination to pursue fashion in any real sense. I admire from afar.
Summer down here is almost too hot for wearing pants, so recently I bought a housedress. It is a simple A-line, sleeveless dress in a soft indigo fabric. This fabulous dress is comfortable and looks passably good on me. How could I resist? It functions well as long as I don't leave the house, try to garden, or bike. For hanging around the house being an aging bon vivant, this housedress is perfect. In fact, I love it beyond reason. I am happy when I put it on. Consequently, I ordered another one just exactly like it. Would it be ridiculous to order a third? If I have three, it kind of becomes a uniform. One less choice to make. One less thing to consider. I think I'm good with that. Going online right now for #3.
Haha. I established my uniform in 1990, and have even distilled it from jeans and a pair of funeral pants to jeans only. I keep the best, bluest pair on the bottom of the stack and do the laundry before I need the funeral jeans.
ReplyDeleteOh I love it! I wonder if I could get by wearing this housedress to a funeral?
DeleteYou din't ask for it but you have my total approval. Comfort is what we strive for.
ReplyDeleteI ALWAYS want your approval, Emma.
DeleteThis time of year I change my clothes several times a day for exactly the reasons you mention here. The problem is to find something lightweight and cool that wouldn't send you dashing to hide in the bedroom if someone knocked on the door. Loose dresses are it! I have also found a few and I live in them all summer.
ReplyDeleteWow - you get it! Another Floridian! I totally want to dress in a way that enables me to answer the door if someone knocks. One reason why I still wear a bra. :)
DeleteI hear you on the bra issue! But it has to be cotton, the dresses too. Some dresses that would be perfect fail the 'cool' test because of added synthetic fabric. There is nothing cool about polyester. For several years now I think , in Spring, I'll make a few simple dresses on my sewing machine. But we arrive at October and nothing has happened. It's a combination of procrastination and the way time gallops by the older I get. meanwhile I'm wearing out the ones I have!
DeleteIt's hard getting used to my changing body. I was always slim and now, not so much. Winter is easy, I cover up but summertime, I want the least amount of clothes on possible. I found a dress that fits the bill but I'm afraid to wear it because I don't want to wear it out. Foolish I know. I like your solution:)
ReplyDeleteI totally get the self-conscious thing. The whole idea of a "housedress" was revelatory to me. A nice indulgence.
DeleteWe don’t have the heat problem but comfort is still the name of the game. Life is too short to bother with things that simply don’t matter. Go get it!!!
ReplyDeleteSo true! I'm on it.
DeleteYou can say what you like about there not being a competition to figure among the first ten commenters to TAFBB posts but I give you the lie any day of the week. Some of these guys must be wired into what is nominally a wi-fi network, able to detect the first authorly sigh ("It is a far, far better thing..."), the first click of a manicured nail hitting the first key (In this case a pregnant and inviting capital i), the first irritated deletion (for revision is the route to writing rectitude).
ReplyDeleteI'm almost tempted to get up while it's still dark to see if I can break in. Would it be better if you wrote rubbish so that I didn't mind being left behind? - the answer to that being another authorly sigh and a whispered "Of course not."
This piece is ostensibly about the weather (ever a no-no for me) and clothing (almost as big a no-no). In fact it's pure autobiography with some sharp self-conclusions tossed in as proof of an acute - yet natural - level of sentience. I'd say more but it might be seen as toadying.
You are such a joy to me, Robbie. If anyone besides me and Roderick Robinson is reading this comment - Do yourself a favor and read his Tone Deaf blog post from earlier today called "Bricks without straw?" It is really a good one.
DeleteAs for my posse of women commenters... they are quite simply the best! I try to get to their blogs ASAP, too. I would be so surprised if they all had manicured nails. I sure don't. Not that there's anything wrong with manicured nails...
Jeans and a tee-shirt is it for me. Although your description of that house dress makes me want to buy one. I haven't had a dress on in almost five years! Stay cool in every way.
ReplyDeleteStaying cool is a struggle, but I do my best. (Said with a devilish grin).
DeleteNow that I'm off for the summer and I, too, live in the deep South, I have my summer uniform all ready: loose cotton tank tops and sleeveless t-shirts paired with a couple of pairs of comfortable shorts....and sandals. That's it.
ReplyDeleteI think ordering another housedress is a fabulous idea!
Thanks, Jennifer! I like the sound of your uniform, too.
DeleteI had two sundresses for the hot months, the kind you slip on after work and/or first thing on a hot morning. Soft muslin cotton with a small pattern one blue and dusty pink. They both faded nicely and the one got an ugly tear and another and so on. I contemplated - sadly - to chuck them out when my daughter sewed them inside out into one new dress, pink in the morning and blue for the evening.
ReplyDeleteShe's a creative force!
DeleteFashion has never been my thing. If it’s comfortable I will wear it. Today is yoga pants tucked into purple bed socks and a sweater of the ugliest green that I wear in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a picture of this housedress. The whole thing.
Great to hear from you, Birdie! I also never wear heels, never have. I like my feet firmly on the ground. Here's the link for the dress. https://www.jjill.com/product/pure-jill-indigo-knit-dipped-hem-dress/Sale
DeleteWell I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one then that buys multiples if I have a fav piece of wardrobe! Hot here too so fashion has to be secondary to what you won't spontaneously combust while wearing when it's well over 100 degrees!
ReplyDeleteLoose dresses seem to be the way to go in that kind of weather. Everything is going on sale right now all over, too.
DeleteMy dad wore a "uniform" almost every day of his life, after about the age of 35 -- a denim shirt and blue jeans. He never wore anything else, even to work. He had "good" blue jeans and "everyday" blue jeans -- LOL! So I can see the appeal.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, one of the most interesting things I experienced when I moved north (and then overseas) was the realization that grass could be SOFT!
Thanks for supporting my grass comment - We've never had to "edge" regularly until we moved to Central Florida. It is a never ending struggle to keep the sideways grass from covering the sidewalks. Ha!
Delete