FashBlog.com

Clothing is much more than meets the eye for many of us. It is a comfort zone of sorts. Surprisingly though, what one might consider comfortable, another would not. Some of us have our favorite pair of jeans and sweatshirt that we pull on the minute we no longer need to be dressed for the outside world. This assembly can also include items such as sweatpants, shorts, pajama tops and bottoms, t-shirts, etc., with the main criteria being the older the better, while others are not comfortable unless completely dressed in a matching ensemble from head to toe.

One friend I know insists that she would never be caught dead in most of the things I regularly wear. I responded by telling her I would surely expire if forced to wear dress clothes day in and out like she does on a daily basis. As I work mostly from the comfort of my home, my closet only holds a few outfits suitable for much beyond a trip to the local grocery store. Her closet mostly holds three-piece suits, color coordinated with matching shoes and jewelry.

This same friend once showed up at a mutual friends for a birthday party for a three year old. She arrived in high heels and a cream pantsuit complete with a white silk shirt and pearls. While other mothers dressed in mostly jeans and Capris gave her looks that clearly wondered if she was a bit off her rocker, I knew that she was dressed in what she considered comfortable for a play date with toddlers. She was not only at ease in what some of us consider dress clothes; I knew she was about as underdressed for an occasion as she would ever be.

What is it about clothes that makes some people love to wear outfits with matching everything, and make the rest of us just wish that everything looked the same so we did not have to always be searching for an outfit that would not make our great, great grandmothers roll in their graves? Why are some people able to dress in fine silks and other elegant clothes at the start of a day and still look pulled together twelve hours later after a full day of work and family? While the rest of us cannot make it out the door first thing in the morning without it looking like we tried to use a steamroller to press our whole wardrobe while we were wearing it.

She always has what she considers the perfect outfit for any occasion that may come up. I am also always comfortable, and the few places I go, I can always manage to pull something out of my closet, even if I do end up wearing the same outfit to both a wedding, a funeral, and the quarterly teachers conference at my twelve year old sons school. The more I think about it, all I can really say is thank heaven for individuality in the clothing game. What it comes down to is the need for everyone to be comfortable with their individual wardrobe and style and stop worrying if we fit in with the crowd. In addition, I need to figure out what I can wear to an upcoming graduation party. I hope that I will not run in to too many of the same people from the last wedding and funeral I went too!