Sunday, March 18, 2007

Comfortable in My Skin

Despite the Nor'Easter that hit us on Friday, it is almost spring here in New England. And so the spring catalogues are arriving in the mail.

Mr. Zips and I had a near argument last week (you're shocked, I know) about these catalogues. I was showing him a shirt in the Lands' End catalogue I really liked. It's a white, eyelet Oxford button down. It looks a lot like a shirt I finally had to part with during the last move.

Mr. Zips thinks I dress like an old woman. Probably because I dress like an old woman.

He says, with my figure, I could get away with a lot more.

I say, why do I need to get away with anything?

I dress the way I do because I feel comfortable that way. Not because I'm trying to hide - or show off - my figure. But because my personal taste in fashion runs to the conservative and classic. The sad, disgruntling truth is, I like Talbots.

No matter who we think we should be or who other people think we should be, well, sooner or later who we actually are is going to come out.

For example, I felt like I should be going out partying last night. It was Saint Patrick's Day. I'm so Irish I even work for a Dublin-based company. But I wanted to go to yoga today and so I wanted to get to bed early.

So I got to yoga and, lo and behold, the class was filled with people I knew. And I mentioned something about listening to WeSun before class this morning. "Wasn't the puzzle fun today?" one woman piped in. "Yeah, but the challenge was way too easy" said another. We had a good laugh, walking out to our cars, each one adorned with anti-war, anti-bush, pro-environment bumper stickers.

We are who we are. And even if Mr. Zips would love to see his galpal in skintight spandex or supershort mini skirts, I'm gonna keep shopping the Lands' End catalog.