Christianity and Fashionablity

Proverbs 31:22 says "She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns."

So why do Christian women tend to dress on the unfashionable side? (Yes, I know there are exceptions. I went to church with one...)

While the fashion from time to time can be rather revealing, not all are.  Even if you find a shirt or dress you fancy is a little too sheer for your liking, there are ways to make it less so.

God doesn't want us to be ashamed of that which He has given us. He wants us to use Godly Common Sense. I doubt the One that will robe us in silk in heaven would begrudge us a bit of such here, as long as it is not what we put before Him.

I know a lot of Christians that desire to have brand names, but fear getting them because of the judgment passed if they are wearing Gucci instead of Goodwill.

We do, as Christians, need to be careful that we are not putting anything in God's place. And maybe that is where the fear of fashion among Christian women stems from.

Maybe we fear that our love of fashion and designer names MAY remove God from His rightful place in our hearts.

This shirt and dresses are good examples of being fashionable while maintaining your modesty.

A Different Sort Of Fashion Blog

When I started this blog, I had EVERY intention that it would be different than every other fashion blog.

It's easy to write about how to wear this trend or how to wear that trend, but as someone who has NEVER had a completely flat and fat free stomach and who has a itty bitty waist, but GYNORMOUS hips, trends never sat right on me the way fashion bloggers write about.

So I set off to start a different sort of fashion blog, giving tips and advice on how to be fashionable, fabulous and feminine. Yes, it is geared to the over 35 crowd, but I am sure every age can find tips.

I have a VERY good friend (she is more like a sister!) who has fibromyalgia. Fashion is not easy for her. On her worst days, a fly landing on her skin can hurt immensely.  So HOW can she embrace trends when she is in pain EVERY day?

The trends are out and cuter than ever, but some of the trends can not be worn by my friend because they are a little too tight or high.

As someone who does not suffer from chronic pain, I can get away with anything, but what of my friend? What advice can I give?

It isn't easy, that's for sure, but my blouse yesterday reminded me that NOT all style is high and tight.

So, here are some tips I hope help if you have chronic pain, but want to be fashionable.

1) Find something you like that is loose and baggy.  For ideas, go to newlook.com or asos.com. Their prices are reasonable and you can get some GREAT ideas there.

Once I have my computer up and running (AND learn to link) I will CERTAINLY link!

2) Invest in something you LOVE, but maybe buy it one size up.  It won't look too big and will also NOT hurt on the days you feel awful.

3) On those days where your pain is tolerable for running errands, but where it hurts to get dressed, take an hour or two and try on some clothes and test your pain threshold.

4) Don't think you have to give up that cute flowy dress you've been eyeing because it buttons in the back. Yes. You don't want to practice yoga to get the dress on, but if you can get it a size up (and not have it it look too big!), you may be able to keep it buttoned.

5) Don't give up your go to clothes for the days the pain chains you to your bed. Sometimes you HAVE TO wear things that may not be the most stylish, but fashion should be the LAST thing you should think about when the pain confines you to your bed or couch.

And MOST IMPORTANTLY :

6) DON'T GIVE UP! If seeking a wardrobe that is BOTH fashionable AND easy on pain is what you want, understand that, like all of us, you will have plenty of misses.  Just do not allow yourself to get discouraged.

After all, if you can live with chronic pain, you TRULY can conquer ANYTHING!

SUCCESS! FINALLY!

I touched VERY slightly on this towards the end of yesterday's post, but will go a bit more in depth.

One issue that absolutely brings me to tears is bra shopping. I am a 34DDD, so shopping for bras is no easy task.

The ones that DO fit have the underwire of death and are NOTHING more than a piece of boring old cloth.

Just because I am nothing more than a walking set of breasts doesn't mean I don't want to feel sexy.

While I CAN appreciate the concept behind the underwire (breasts are heavy and need support) and the lack of sexy design (want to keep from having "uniboob"!), the truth is that all women WANT to feel good about themselves.

ALL women want to feel attractive. While some don't care if they are attractive to others, they CERTAINLY want to look in the mirror and feel they look awesome!

When you have breasts as large as mine or larger, it can be hard to feel that way. You  - rightly or wrongly - assume others only see your breasts.

So, flashback to Friday. Decide that my old bra had done its time and needed to retire.

So off to Victoria's Secret -one of my favorite places - to buy one. I try on about 6...all in the size I am measured to be. Not ONE of them fit. Granted. I DID ask for no underwire, but I was getting uniboob and that is a pet peeve.

So, I walk away in tears...ONLY leaving with their eau de parfum LOVE and a roller ball of SCANDALOUS .

So, yesterday, I headed to the mall to get some more work/play clothes and since the Victoria's Secret was a larger store, I would check it out.

Welll...

I managed to find TWO that fit!

And they are LACE! Not simply cloth!

While I will ALWAYS see my breasts as a curse, as I grow, I am VERY slowly ans tearfully accepting them.

A lot of bigger chested women often feel that clothing is made for the "normal" chested women. And to a degree, it is. But we shouldn't let it bother us.

I have a long way to go on my journey to accepting my body the way it is and work out to get it where I want it.

And I will share thus journey with all of you!

Asking For Reader Tips Too!

One of the hardest things to do, as a blogger, is coming up with new ideas.  Maybe if this thing takes off, I can talk about a lot of different things.

But one that is near to me is trying to be fashionable while having a chest that is bigger than the HMS Titantic.

There are few things that make me cry. Bra shopping is one. I LOVE Victoria's Secret, but have such difficulty buying a bra. I am not a small chested woman. Believe me...I wish I WAS!

As I go with this blog, I will try to touch upon some of the struggles women of all body types face. I ask for help from my readers on tips that you may have on regards to your size...hips, chest, waist, height, etc...so that all tips are usable!

I will, as soon as I wake up, blog about my experience of trying to find a bra!

In A Rut

I was there. Stuck in a fashion rut.  We all get there every so often,  but the ruts I had previously been in I had been able to find my way out within a month.

This rut has endured YEARS and while I have my theories, I am unsure of how they stand.

During my 2.5 years of being unemployed, I couldn't spend the money on new looks or fashions as much as I hoped to.

And, when it comes to fashion, like most of us, I miss.

So, during this rut, I found myself surfing around YouTube and finding some fashionably dressed young ladies and fell in love with the styles they were wearing.

The old lady in me was like "You will never be able to pull that off! You have a belly and besides, you're 45, remember? People will think you are trying way too hard to hold on to your youth. Stay where you are and don't you DARE try to wear these outfits!"

To be fair, old lady self has a point. Due to my short stature and my weight and general bone structure, I won't be able to look as good as them.

I WILL LOOK BETTER!

See, we all have that old lady self that tries to convince us that we are too old, too fat, too tall, or too short. And we MUST CHOOSE to ignore her.

We can all be FABULOUSLY fashionable, regardless of our age. 

 I totally fell in LOVE with a Zara dress that is obviously for a younger woman. While this is a cheap dupe, I fell in love and bought it.

I NEVER felt better in a dress!  The fit was PERFECT and the compliments I received!

No MATTER what your fashion sense is or isn't, you can ALWAYS make it work for YOU! 

Go out there and claim your Fashionably Forty self!

What Are Rules Anyway

We have all heard about the rules of fashion. Don't wear this or don't wear that.

Have you EVER tired of hearing about those rules? I CERTAINLY have.  I get that fashion rules must exist for a reason.  After all, you DON'T want am attorney in dirty distressed jeans and a ripped tee shirt representing you in a court of law.

But what about when we are "off the clock"? What rules should apply? It does get tricky because we all always want to look our best and have people take us seriously.

And what if we are over 25?  What fashion rules apply to us?

We are being told that of we are of a certain age that we must cover up and,  according to the fashion industry, give up the style we worked so hard to create for ourselves.

The cute fashions are ALWAYS for the 21 year old who wears size 00 and a stomach so flat that Nebraska gets jealous.

One of the things I have loved about fashion is that it gives us the ability to show EVERYONE who we are or desire to be.

For my fashion, I want to be seen as someone who is as small town country girl as she is big town city girl.  I want people to see that I have fun with what I wear and the rules are not for me when I am not in the office.

As we age, we find that what we should be wearing if we follow the rules makes us look older, dumpier, and frumpier. Just because we have reached 35.

And WHY should we settle for that?

The truth is we should not. We should embrace our age and the fashion wisdom we have gained.

One of the things I would love to do with this blog, if you are so inclined to entertain me, is talk about we of such an advanced age can mix our fashion wisdom with the styles generally reserved for those of a younger set.

Join me on that journey!

Reintroduction Post

A few years ago, I had a dream of having a fashion blog. I am no Stacy London ie professional stylist, but I have always loved fashion.

I walked away from my blog after a couple entries because I needed to have a job that ACTUALLY paid the bills and who knows if my blog would have been able to provide that.

I then got too busy with work and never really able to get back into it, but recently, I have been contemplating a reboot on my fashion blog.

I LOVE fashion but people think that once you hit a certain age, you have to pretty much give up on being fashionable.

AND THAT'S NOT TRUE!

Come with me as we traverse the road of being over the age of 35 and being put FABULOUS FASHIONABLE SELVES!

So, short entry BUT if you have read this, please leave a comment on what you think I should blog about!

Stay Or Go?

Have realized that it has been a long time since I've blogged.  I'll get around to blogging here again soon.

But, unlike other fashion blogs, I don't have a photog to take pics of me.  And, I didn't really want this blog to be like every other fashion blog on the internet.  I'm thinking that once I get a chance, I'll put together some outfits and snap quick pics of them.  But, I need a mannequin because I don't feel like getting dressed and undressed for a blog.

And, in order to get that, I need to get a job.  I'm not sure how well my outfits would look if I put them on my bed.  :)

But, this blog has not been forgotten but it has been neglected.

I just want to know if anyone reads this blog and even cares.  Or if I should let it go...

My Fashion History - Part 2

Okay. Here are some of my teen years fashion hits and misses. I'm going to have to do a dual post on my teen years because it's not letting me add the picture of me in my duck sweatshirt. Believe me. It's HILARIOUSLY a miss! :)

Without further ado, here are my teen years hits and misses!



This is still my standard "uniform". Without the SWATCH watch. Tee shirts and jeans were the easy way. I never could get my hair to do the ridiculous styles that were so popular in the 1980s, so flat hair then, like now, is pretty much my standard.

That was my dad's jacket from the 1970s that I stole from him because I LOVED it. I wore the jacket for years. In fact, I still have it and yes, every once in a while, still wear it.

I enjoyed the relaxed easy style of jeans and tee shirts. Then and now.


I still think about this shirt. It was one of my favorites. I called it my "Stryper" shirt. I would top it off with, as seen in this picture, my brother's fedora almost every time I wore it.

I even had Stryper cross earrings I would wear with it and bought TWO of the same exact earrings - one in black and one in yellow - to wear with this shirt. I wish I had a picture of me with those earrings on, as I don't think I was wearing them on this occasion.

And look at how I match a lovely pink purse with my yellow and black ensemble.

And don't forget the high-waisted 80s acid wash envelope jeans, which will make another appearance in this post.

And...here are those envelope jeans again. Honestly, I LOVED those jeans. I wore them even when they started to go out of style.

I love this look to this day. It's so easy to do. You see a style very similar to this on Kristin Cavallari, Lauren Conrad, Cameron Diaz, and most celebrities.

That was MY "Debbie Gibson" Pork Pie hat (Which got crushed in a move, looking more like an "Eliza Doolittle" Pork Pie hat) and I still own - and wear - those earrings.

I borrowed my brother's discarded black blazer (I say discarded because he had joined the Navy and didn't have the room to store it on ship and I hated to see it gather moths!) and one of my dad's white tee shirts. I put on my fringe boots (YES! Total 80s boots...but sadly no pic, but if you're interested in seeing what they looked like, check out Poison's video for "Talk Dirty to Me". They're like the one's Bret is wearing). Totally 80s!

I loved this shirt. Sadly, my dad accidentally left a pen in his uniform and the ink got all over this shirt. Mom and I did what we could to save it.

My make up is very soft since my parents didn't let me wear a whole lot. You may be able to see my freckles, but they never bothered me. I wore them (and still do) proudly! :)

I still have and wear those earrings. They were a gift from my daddy.

I loved that brooch. Again...something that got lost in a move. *Sad face*

This shirt was not only worn with jeans, but with several skirts that I owned and wore. It was one of my favorites.

I had a lot of favorites in my teen years! haha

This is most definitely a miss. But, I'm proud of this outfit because I MADE IT PEOPLE! I wore that shirt (and the blue button one I made too) for a couple years. I pity the person who had to wear it after me.

Are you loving my semi-mullet? LoL It was a direct result of a bad cut by a bad stylist. I wanted to cut it, but look how short the front was and at least I could pull it back when I wanted to (and I did - A LOT!)

I had a pair of black flats I wore with it!


Okay...here's a better picture of my semi-mullet. I was wearing a strapless dress (again, one of my favorites!) and that 'jacket' is actually a shirt! It was one of the shirts, at the time, was popular to wear backwards.

It was the compromise my parents and I made so I could get this dress. It had a beautiful lace underskirt and there was the ability to button it up to show it. Only catch? I had to get BOTH parents permission to do so.

BUT - they didn't oppose me wearing the 2 or 3 inch heels that I always wore with it. Wish I had a picture of those. I literally wore them out! But a pair of cork heeled sandals they got me when I was 10 started me loving heels! :)

So, they have no one else to blame for my stiletto love! haha



Don't you love the matching outfit I'm wearing? LoL haha This most definitely counts as a miss!

To be honest, I DON'T remember the jumper, but I DO remember the shirt. I wore it a lot. But, this honestly, is one of my absolute favorite pictures. I know you don't see much on my style but I had to share it. That's my Grammy and I LOVED spending time with her, me attempting to play the piano and her playing. She played so beautifully.

I love to imagine that she's playing the piano for God in heaven. I miss her a lot. Every day, in fact. I love you, Grammy.

So, there you go. Some more of my youthful fashion. Both fave and fail. I'll post some more later. I've got so many ideas for this blog and this is just the beginning!

My Fashion History - Part 1

So, those who know me know that I just love the 1980s. No surprise. I was a teen in the 80s, so I'm a little partial. :)

So, in honor of that, I thought I'd share some of my fashion hits and misses from my youth. I've got a couple from when I was just a wee lass to my teen years. I had my moments of pure fashion bliss to complete fashion miss!

These photos are family photos, so there are few of just me or of me posing alone for the camera. So, you'll just have to bear.

Without further adieu, here are some of my fashions from my younger years. This will be a few entries entry.




This is me at 2 months old. I think I saw my first pair of stilettos and couldn't wait to be old enough to wear them.

I know you can't make much of my outfit, but it's this adorable 1970s yellow dress and diaper cover. I don't have kids, so I don't know what they're really called. I always called them "Baby Bloomers"! :)




And, here I am at just around 2. Either yellow was HUGE in the 1970s or my mom just wanted to put me in yellow almost all the time. Must have looked good in it.

Guess I found another pair of stilettos I wanted. Either that or I found my fashion inspiration. Maybe the lady walking around in her leisure suit and I thought that was wrong. Even then.

But, this dress was one my mom put me in a lot. I don't have all the pictures with me in this dress, but I guess she did make me wear this a lot. Not that I complained. It was a cute dress. Especially with those socks and Mary Janes.




One of my own personal favorite outfits. I wasn't wearing the boots I loved to wear with it. They were these black and red velvet Victorian - esque boots. I think I wore them with everything.

I just look at my brother and laugh. Believe it or not, we were both really styling back then.

But, there are several pictures of me in this dress. I don't have those pictures on computer. If I can ever get the pictures on computer, I'll post those.

But, this dress was so comfortable that I sometimes wish it still fit to this very day!

But, I think my brother's glad his outfit doesn't fit! :)




The think I love about this dress was that I always felt like I was a cute Christmas gift. I think this dress is responsible for my love of bows.

I love the little page-boy hair cut that I have. It saved me a lot of headaches since I was cursed with hair that LOVES to tangle and tangle very easily.




I don't know if you can see what I'm wearing or not. Yes, it's a brown (tan) corduroy skirt and a tee shirt. Not sure if the shirt has a design or not. Maybe this pic will blow up and we can see.

I used to wear skirts a lot growing up, even though, as you can see here, I was a bit of a tomboy. I don't know why I was digging in our back yard, except it was more than likely fun to do.

I wore this outfit to school a lot and since it was Florida and it got hot in the summer, this honestly was the perfect summer outfit.

And, it was also really perfect for digging random holes in your backyard.

Thus, upsetting your parents and making them laugh at the same time.





I love this outfit. This shirt was one of my favorites. You don't see the cute little pink bow that was on the front of the shirt. I guess it was either not sitting right or was falling off because I know the teacher took it to hold it for the picture, but she forgot to give it back.

And I forgot to ask for it back.

Yet, I've never forgotten that pink bow. :)

You see the pink bows in my hair and my favorite necklace...it was an angel. I do forget who gave it to me, but I do know that I felt all grown up when I wore it. It was beautiful. I wish I still had it, but growing up in the Navy, you often lose stuff in between moves and it may have gotten lost in one of those moves.



Okay. Laugh and laugh hard at this, but I love this. It was a nod to my Bavarian ancestry. Or that is what I always thought.

Yes, it was that awful polyester that was so popular in the 1970s.

Polyester: Check.
Burnt orange: Check.
Floral Print: Check.
Burgundy: Check.
Bows: Check.
1970s Cream Color: Check.

Yep. It was the 70s. Just look at my brother's belt and BattleStar Galactica shirt. I just shake my head and laugh.


Look at this long maxi dress I'm wearing! I think my mom loved this dress because there were like literally 100 pictures of me in this dress! I had several maxi dresses. This one and the Sesame Street dress I also owned were my faves, but sadly, there are no really good pictures of my Sesame Street dress.

But, what I love about this is the red and white polka dots and the lace. It was so girlie and so feminine that I felt like I was 13. At this age, 13 was so old. :) But, this was a totally awesome dress.

Look at the sunglasses! Yep. I'm a diva in training! haha

I think that was a Hollie Hobbit shirt. It tied in the back and had bell like sleeves. Not true bell sleeves since it was for little girls, but they were bell sleeved enough for me.

In this picture (unseen) I'm wearing a pair of jeans and my favorite tennis shoes: Cortez by Nike. They were the rubber tipped Nikes. Oh, I loved those tennis shoes. Anyone know where I can buy some more?


Final picture of this blog.

I loved plaid when I was a little girl. If it wasn't a plaid skirt, I didn't want to wear it! And, yes. The sweater vest was huge back then!

This was (obviously with the tree in the background) Christmas at my Gramma's house. I don't think I wore this a lot. Maybe I outgrew it, but I don't remember this outfit being around a long time.

But, check out the ribbon barrette in my hair! I wore that thing out. I thought I was cool and stylish. Like the Valley girls. :)

So, there you have it. Some of my fashion hits and misses from my youth. I'll post some more tomorrow or Wednesday. Hope you enjoy my trip down fashion memory lane!

Etiquette Tips?

For those who read this, do you want etiquette tips since I think that good manners are always fashionable?

Please answer below.

Thanks!

St. Patrick's Day Style

Due to a missing camera cord, this St. Paddy's Day entry is late. Sorry.

When I decided to do a fashion blog, I knew I didn't want it to be like every other fashion blog. While there will be pictures of me in the outfits I'm wearing that are fashionable (I think! haha) but I wanted there to be other ideas as well.

I went with my best friend to the mall on St. Patrick's Day to try to gather some help with this. While some places were excited and wanting to help, there were some that seemed less than enthusiastic.

While walking from store to store (in hopes that we could find some place that most women 35+ avoid), we walked into Romy and met Megan. While she is in her early 20's (I think she said she was 23), she is in an outfit that could translate to any age group of women. Everything she's wearing came from Romy.

I promise if I had the money, I would have bought that entire outfit. She was sheik and fashionable and definitely in the St. Paddy's Day spirit.

It's a full dress, though there was a shirt with the same pattern. (And, if you can, check out the dresses next to her! I'm so getting me one of those and a cardigan when I finally get a full time job and more money! So adorable!)

When you can, if you have one, go check out Romy or check out their website at http://www.romystyle.com/ and see what they have to offer! Not just for those of us who are over 35, but for those who are 34 and under! : )

I love the store! It has so many different outfits to put together and I always think of and feel like "Melinda Gordon" from "Ghost Whisperer" every time I walk by the store. And, I got a couple outfits from there and I'm expecting a ghost to come find me at any time to help with any unfinished business they may have!

But, Megan wasn't the only one. Eating lunch, I gasped when I saw this next outfit!

Yes...that IS a "Hello Kitty" shirt that I couldn't manage to get the words out to ask where she got it, but I knew she had to be here, on my blog.

My best friend and I were like "She looks adorable!", so we grabbed BFF's camera and asked if we could put her on this blog and she did. Tell me that Cynthia doesn't look adorable and in the St. Paddy's Day mood!

Don't you just love this!? I do!

You can't see that she had heels on. I never wanted a shirt so much in my life! I <3 Hello Kitty! She pulled together a great look, didn't she? I love it. There really isn't much to say about the outfit other than <3! : )

(Don't you just love the flutterbys behind her head? I think they add to the photo! I'm partial to flutterbys. I love them so much and glad that she posed where she did!)

But, as an Irish woman, I had to pay homage to my grandfather's parents' homeland's patron saint, so I pulled together this look.

This is supposed to be representative of the Irish flag, but that's really coral rather than orange. I need to invest in an orange tank top.

The jacket and the jeans are from Charlotte Russe. Yeah. Charlotte Russe. A store that is known for catering to a younger crowd.

But, believe it or not, they have the clothes and the sizes for ALL women. I'm not exactly a size 2, but Charlotte Russe has clothes that FIT! You don't need to be a tiny size two 20 year old to shop there. Venture out there and find yourself and your newest favorite outfit there!

I do all my shopping there and they know me and, even though I'm okay putting outfits together, they help! And are even encouraging of this blog!

I love these earrings by Lauren Conrad for Mark (Avon) and my Claddaugh ring.














This is the Taner Necklace from gorjana.com and it has quickly become my favorite necklace. It's a simple statement piece that doesn't loudly announce it's there. I have gotten so many compliments about this necklace! So...go to gorjana.com and look for it!














And my new fave shoes from Target (Tar-Jay! LoL) I got these on sale, so not sure if they are there anymore. I get compliments about these shoes! I think they are 5 inches. I so <3 them.














I apologize if the pictures are blurry. We're still working the kinks out of this blog. I hope that this blog will take off as I would love it to. While I know there are other fashion blogs out there, full of women who are far more fashionable than I am, I hope that you'll read this blog and catch up on what the latest trends are.

I want this to be a place where you can get cheap ideas. I read other blogs and they're wearing a Dolce and Gabbana jacket, with Manolo Blahnik's, a Michael Kors bag and Marc Jacobs watch. I can't afford those! So, I wanted to provide a blog that provides cheaper alternatives. You DON'T have to spend a fortune to be fashionable.

And that's what this blog is about!

Just Because....

Okay, here it is. A fashion blog. I've wanted to always have one of these, but I've always been afraid to try. I'm not sure how this one will work. I've got several blogs on here and have neglected them...mostly because I've got nothing to say on the subject. Football season is over. My faith is at a good place. I've all but given up trying to remember where I put all my journals from my youth. I've finally accepted that I'm never going to get married and am no "Bridget Jones".

So, we'll see.

The point of this blog is to hopefully show women that you don't have to dress your age and still dress your age.

Not make sense? Hopefully I can keep up with this blog long enough to explain that.

But, here's a bit of an introduction to what I WANT this blog to be like:

I hope that I can find someone to take pictures of my outfits so I can post them.

I have always felt that one should dress for themselves. Line 15 people up in a room and have them judge what I'm wearing. 5 will love what I've got on. 5 will hate what I've got on. And 5 will care less about what I've got on. So, the point is to dress for yourself. If you feel good in what you're wearing, it will show.

There is no better accessory than confidence. Wear what you were with confidence.

My hair is layered, so the styles that I would LOVE to do are impossible, so in all my pictures, my hair will mostly be the same. While I don't like that, I have to accept it. I do have lovely hair (in my opinion) despite it not doing much of anything and it looks great straightened.

I hope that this blog will take off and that women who are my age will be inspired to dress young, while dressing age appropriate.