Open Thread: Fashion Follies

I was at a party a few years ago chatting up a gal I’d known for a while and I asked her one of my favorite icebreakers:  “What are you looking forward to?”

The answers I’ve gotten over the years range from the cosmic (“World peace.”) to the practical (“that the landlord fixes my heat”) to the poignant (“A clean bill of health.”)  But this gal stopped me short with this one: “I can’t wait to find out what the new makeup colors are for fall.”  (This gal, I later learned, waited for Fashion Week like kids waited for Christmas.)

I didn’t even know that makeup colors changed at all, let alone seasonally, and let alone that it’s something people actually wait for, especially a woman in her sixties – but then I’m not really fashion forward, especially now.  When I was younger I bought whatever was in the stores that appealed to me and looked good on me and didn’t give it a second thought.

In my thirties I got more with the program, probably because my workplace at the time was across the street from Bloomingdales.  I bought a new pair of shoes with every birthday. (My late husband couldn’t understand why I needed more than a pair of black, a pair of brown, a pair of boots and a pair of sneakers.)  One time I bought five hats in five different colors.  Since my husband was a minimalist, I kept them in my office and wore a different one home from work a week a time.

As I’ve gotten older (and let’s admit it, heavier) fashion lost its grip on me. I spend my days in black jeans and sneakers because now I dress for comfort not for speed. I wish I could trim down as much as my closet has…

…except for one spot.  My closet still has a section that’s a shrine to younger, fitter me, with clothing I will never ever get rid of, whether I”ll someday fit in them or not:  two custom made peplum suits I bought in the Eighties (a blue pinstripe and a muted shade of purple) and the suit I got married in.  (It had bugle beads, aurora borealis beads and seed pearls on the shoulders and lapels.  My little nephew at the time thought they were real).

But that’s me.  How about you? Are you a fashionista? What clothing items are you holding on to no matter what – and why? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog “Don’t Get Me Started” puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City. Send  Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.