"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Whatever Happened To The Housecoat?

So this time next week SM and I will be attending the wedding of our long-time friends daughter.  SM and I, being in our fifties, have found that any special events that we're invited to tend to be few and far between now.  I can't remember the last wedding we went to.

Then again...Who gets married anymore?

When we were younger, we attended all the usual events that come with creating new families.  Wedding and baby showers, the main event and the reception.  Church events like christenings, baptisms and first communions. 

Of course there are funerals to also attend. Our older relatives tell us to "Get used to it."  It's all a part of getting older, I guess.

Anyhoo, since I haven't been to a special event in, like forever, I find that I now need to consider what the heck I'm going to wear to this shin-dig. 

My life is a casual one.  Scrubs at work, T-shirts, shorts, sweatpants and jeans at home.  I can't tell you the last time I wore a dress and heels.  Just doesn't happen.  Even church is casual, which is fine by me.

SM tells me to relax, "It's only one day.  You don't have to get all dolled up for this.  We're only attending.  It's not like we're in the wedding party."  Easy for him to say.  Guys can toss on a pair of khaki's and a nice shirt and call it a happy day.

It's different for girls.

Why do girls need to look nice? 

Because we women are judged. 

Yeah, yeah...The guys will check out the ladies but it's the other women we dress for isn't it? 

Society says that we need to look a certain way.  That's being respectful. 

But we women also judge each other, don't we?  Who looks nice and who looks slutty...You know...High School all over again.

Which also makes me reflect on how I might be judged as one of those women who has "let herself go." 

I can see it on Oprah now.  Slightly chubby, middle aged house-frau wears dumpy nondescript clothing.  Sister needs a makeover!  Stuff her in some Spanks, spackle and paint her up and she looks 10 years younger!

Until she gets home.

Ha!  I bet all those girls who've done the makeover thing morphed back to their comfortable selves as soon as the camera was turned off.

I must admit that I barely dress up for SM anymore either.  The only time he sees me with nice hair and makeup is the 30 seconds before I kiss him goodbye in the mornings when I head in to work.

Weekends?  Hey, I got dirty work to do so I'm bare faced, my hair stuffed into a ponytail, old comfortable clothes on.  If we have errands to run, I stuff my head under a ball cap and try to throw on a nicer T-shirt.

And it's gotten even worse with my hot flashes.  I zip around the house in a sports bra and shorts.  Once, I ran out my back door to toss some trash in the can and came face to face with the neighbors service guy.  Ooopsie.  He was a young fellow too. 

I bet his eyes burned for a week.

So now I try to remember to toss a T-shirt on whenever I run out back.  You never know who's looking.

 Which makes me wonder something. 

What ever happened to the housecoat?  I remember seeing the older ladies wearing them growing up.  Do you remember them?  They were usually made of cotton with a floral pattern.  Rather boxy in shape, with those little metal snaps.  Did they wear them because it was comfy?  Because they were hot and sweaty?  Because they too didn't want the service guy to see them in their underwear?

That's what I need in my life.  A housecoat.





Do you think I can wear one to the wedding?


9 comments:

  1. My mom still wears them. The exact type you describe, but I can't remember where she orders them from. It's a popular catalog, but the name escapes me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm the WORST when it comes to how I look around home. Even more so in the summer when I'm up to my wazoo in garden dirt most of the time. And the last time I wore a dress and heels? Good grief, it was 2000. Seriously. Seems lately I've been thinking a lot back to those long ago years when my job outside the home required me to wear a dress and heels every day. (Oh yeah, and those dreaded panty hose, too. Ugh.) That was when I looked slightly (only slightly) glamorous and classy on a regular basis. If I had to dress for your upcoming wedding event, I know it would be in something loose and comfortable . . . while hoping the other wedding attendees didn't think it was my housecoat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Last wedding? Kristen's 3 years ago? Housecoat I have 3 one long fleesie from WM, on BIG T- shirt from Goodwill, and one dress length tank-top.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know what you're talking about! I need one of them. And I haven't dressed up in years either. I would love a makeover, but would go right back to how I looked before right away. I love wearing my dirty farm clothes more than anything else. I feel more comfortable in them. And boots too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The last time I regularly saw house coats was when I went to my Great Aunt's house in the Polish neighborhood in Chicago about 8 years ago. Lots of older ladies in their 70's to upper 80's in those big, loose, snap up floral house coats. And to my horror, I found out that most of them didn't bother wearing undergarments. Ask me how I know this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Quote: "Did they wear them because it was comfy? Because they were hot and sweaty? Because they too didn't want the service guy to see them in their underwear"?

    YES :-) lol

    As to the what to wear to 'events' I'll admit to you (but deny otherwise, lol) that I'm unsure what unsettles me more - the fact I've little that's even quasi-fashion-current in my closet or that what may pass as acceptable seldom will fit! (and I'm not talkin' tight, I'm talkin' wont zip! roflmao) aarrggghhhh

    I finally evolved a solution that works for me. I have one designated outfit (dress or suit) for happy events and one for somber/serious events. I try each on at the outset of the appropriate season and replace it if it (oh how depressing) doesn't fit.
    Or after I've had it a few years, whichever comes first. No choice I admit but my frequency of events is also low. And I love the no or fuss or muss. And best of all for the last few years it's spared me from screaming "oh sh*t!" in front of the mirror the day before or day of the event (where I must pretend well-dressed-ness-is-part-of-my-life) :-)

    I couldn't agree more - no matter what age or phase of life, women never seem to stop giving each other the visual once-over scan and the following expression of approval or disdain. While I care little about approval of style or accessory match I do feel very uneasy when I'm wearing something I dislike or an outfit that fits me badly (read: I have poured myself into).

    Much like you, it's uber casual for me all day everyday, especially on the farm. Thank goodness I CAN'T find housecoats in the stores as I'd probably be tempted to be in one way too often, lol

    Great post as always!
    Issy




    ReplyDelete
  7. That's why I like aprons so much. The pockets are so handy. I think we should bring the housecoat back! (Maybe spruce it up just a bit.)

    Enjoy dressing up...

    ReplyDelete
  8. During Santa painting season, I am so weird, I wear my clothes inside out to protect them. Most of the time the paint will only penetrate the top layer of threads. I don't know why I do that. They are old clothes.

    The last time my son was coming home on leave. He called the house when he was about 7 minutes away from home and gave me a heads up that one of the other people in his flight had ridden with him on their way back to home to Chicago. It was right before Christmas and I had a hundred projects going at once, plus Santa painting, and my weekly microwaving of my cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. I picked up and tossed everything into hiding places and even had time to brush my hair. Unfortunately, the house smelled really bad from the vegetable-cooking fest and there wasn't much I could do about that.

    I barely had the few things I could get done finished, when my son and his passenger walked into the house. She was a female. I wasn't sure but what there may have been a romantic interest with them. Anyway, I greeted them at the door and my son went in the other room for a few minutes. As I was sitting there talking to the young lady, I looked down and there I was wearing my blouse and pants inside out. I stammered an explanation for the clothes situation, and why I was cooking so many stinking things that day. She was so sweet, but I am sure she thought I was to put it kindly, more than a little eccentric.

    I chuckled while reading about housecoats. I am always so hot these days, just the "coat" part of housecoat makes me hot to even think of. Most days I find even wearing a necklace seems to make me feel hotter. I remember, as a teenager, laughing at my mom because she used to exercise in her underwear. I thought that was just a hoot. Now I know exactly what was going on with her. I am sure she is up in heaven laughing at me now every time I start tearing my clothes off in a hot fit.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Housecoat. Same thing as a moo-moo, right?
    Cindy
    http://countrycitycindy.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete