In the dressing room mirror

(Note to everybody else: I promised Fedward that I'd put my content up front so he'll know he can skip the rest of the entry if I go on about makeup for several paragraphs. It might do some good for of the rest of you guys to read about one woman's thoughts about clothes and makeup as to add some perspective to the way you relate to the women in your life. Being one of the only men whose opinions about clothes I trust, Fedward has no need for such perspective, as I well know.)

My task for this evening has been pretty simple: I'm putting away all my warm weather clothes. I was inspired to do this by stopping at the consignment shop this afternoon and realizing that there were some things that I just wasn't going to wear again until spring.

I determine wearability by color as much as anything else. I mean, there's little chance I'll wear the coral Blue Fish outfit much before next May, likewise the lavender-blue (dilly dilly) Eileen Fisher rayon tank and jacket. The yellow linen dress with the pear print goes straight into the "to the cleaner" pile not because of the short sleeves and the weight of the fabric, but it's pale yellow with an aqua print.

The Mid-Atlantic U.S. has a strange climate. Ellen was right when she said it seemed like August still; it did until yesterday, but today was gray and damp and decidedly autumnal. Seemed as good a day as any to buy two greige sweaters and put away the pastels.

The greige sweaters are wonderful, they both make me look curvy but not bumpy; I like that. One is a textured cashmere Calvin Klein pullover; the other is an Eileen Fisher textured linen cardigan. They don't go together, but I thought both looked nice on me; plus, both sweaters should be wearable 9-10 months out of the year. I also managed to reject two big baggy tops. Hooray for me.

So, has anybody seen nice wool flat-front trousers in a medium cool taupe, possibly with a teeny bit of stretch. (I like the stretch because it helps with wrinkles. Even men should take note of this: stretch rocks.) Skirts would be fine, too; I guess I'm more concerned with the line being smooth and trim rather than whether it comes in the form of trousers or a skirt.

Today's other purchase was a charcoal wool Kate Spade handbag. I'm bad. It used to be that I didn't even carry a purse, but Kate Spade changed all that. I *heart* her bags because they feel good in my hand. The one I bought today is my third. All of them are handbags, not shoulder bags. This may be the reason I like them so well. The other one I have my eye on is the KS Sam bag in Olive. I'd buy it if I could find shoes to match.

I understand that there are Kate Spade shoes, but since I live in a shopping backwater, I haven't seen them. On second thought, this is probably better for all concerned.

So, the moral of the story is that if you can live with your body, you'll enjoy clothes more. Everybody has to wear clothes, and I think we're better off liking them. I realized, over the weekend, that I can live with the way I look under fluorescent lights having just stepped out of a shower; this includes the scars, the tube and the distortion of my midsection from the fluids that keep me alive. I know there are going to be more scars, but I can live with the ones I have now.

Either I've stopped thinking I look like a freak, or it's stopped mattering quite as much. Either way, it's good.

before - after