05
2010The Insane Strain of Just Being Plain Jane
It’s raining today, and I often like to curl up and enjoy the mood that comes with the rain, or at least go out on the covered porch and listen to the soothing sounds of the falling water.
Nevertheless, I’m on my way out again today. But, things aren’t working for me… maybe it’s the discord with the mood of the day, I don’t know.
It’s not like I am dressing for a nationwide television appearance. I’m just trying to be a regular – albeit far from “normal” – girl just going about her affairs like anyone else.
I am gaining a deeper understanding of women’s dressing travails as I go. I know it is hard for men to understand what in blazes took their gal an hour, when she comes down in some variation on jeans and a t-shirt.
Jeans and a t-shirt is a great look. But sometimes, you just want something a little different – and that’s when the trouble starts.
I look “plain Jane” as Jane can be, and that’s what I was after. But somehow, nothing seemed to work, and I was getting increasingly frustrated trying to make the simplest of looks work. I must have tried on 10 pairs of shoes or boots – wrong color, wrong height, wrong fabric – and the same for my tops.
Not sure how it all turned out – you can judge for yourself – but I now see a few holes in my wardrobe. Oh well, more shopping….
Petra Bellejambes
Great look Janie , all the individual elements are evergreen, they play well together, and they work nicely with you too. Worth the effort from where I sit.
And, yes I get your point, it is so easy to be off just a shade or a degree or an inch, and this is madly frustrating, but my what a delicious problem to solve, yes? Such a treat, I honestly wonder how it is that not everyone feels this way.
Happy weekend – Petra
cdjanie
I will take the compliment happily, as you are something of an maven in my books. Now, Petra, I must start to wonder about your masochistic side when you say, practically in one breath, that this problem is both madly frustrating and a treat! 😉 But, I get your point. Happy Weekend to you too xo Janie
Andrea
Lookin’ awful cute to me, Janie…Definitely seem to have tons of fashion smarts…But, yah…I know what you mean about the “mood of the day”…I was feelin’ it too…all day, my fashion flair seemed to elude me…and to be honest, I just feel like one big, annoying and annoyed mess! Thanks for empathizing…it was timely for me.
cdjanie
Hey, Andrea,
Seems the word “cute” slipped out of your keyboard by accident. 😀 I hope your mood has improved; I guess we’re on the same wavelength, fellow surfer doll!
Kate
In terms of fashion, and picking simple outfits, I’ve often thought of the notion of “lex parsimoniae”… that the simplest explanation is the most obvious and correct one. The irony of “lex parsimoniae” is that sometimes when possibilities are compared, the simplest explanation (or outfit) only seems simple after it has been assembled. So, sometimes it can be incredibly challenging creating something which in the end turns out to be really fundamental and basic. Those things which are classically beautiful, I believe, are also most fundamental and basic, and so my thought is that “lex parsimoniae” applies equally well to fashion as it does to philosophy or science.
cdjanie
Well said. There is certainly elegance in simplicity, in words, thought and most assuredly, fashion, but aren’t we always after a tweak, a difference, a personalization, a novelty? Sometimes, it is progress, but oftentimes it is just change.