What To Wear???

I love to watch TLC's "What Not To Wear." This is the show in which someone with lousy fashion sense is given a trip to New York and a Visa card with $5000 in order to get a fabulous new wardrobe. Give me a marathon and I am glued to the TV. I told the sperm donor that I was going to wear maternity clothes for two years so that he could videotape how hideous I looked so I could be on the show. Unfortunately, after about three months postpartum I did look pretty hideous. The shirts were way too big and the shorts were all baggy in the butt. All of the clothes are currently in the process of being moved to the consignment shop.

So I have a job interview today (an unpromising one, but that's another story). Yesterday I was tending to some laundry while Anja was playing and, standing in my closet, I realized that I had nothing to wear. Thanks to breastfeeding, I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight but that is by no means where I would like to be. And I'm proportioned differently. There's more flab. And, also thanks to breastfeeding, my boobs are at least a cup size bigger, depending on what time of the day it is. So none of my shirts fit. My own daughter has more clothes that fit her in her closet than I do.

So I loaded up Anja and we went shopping. First, let me say that most retail stores are not set up for a woman with a stroller. The aisles are too narrow. Anja has developed the ability to reach out and grab things while we are moving. It is related to the ability that drops the toys out of the stroller while we are moving. So I was simultaneously looking for clothes and stopping to either pick up a toy or remove Anja's hand from an unsuspecting skirt.

I finally found some candidates and proceeded to the fitting room. The girl monitoring the fitting room was nice enough to let us have the extra large fitting room equipped for people with disabilities (that's nice and politically correct). As I tried on my items, I kept wondering "If I were on What Not To Wear, what would Stacy and Clinton say?" Does this a-line skirt take away attention from my larger hips and ass? Does this top say my boobs are large milk devices? Does the way this material hangs de-emphasize my tummy which at one time was flat? Is it still OK to wear control top panty hose? Does anyone wear panty hose anymore?

Anja was no help in answering these questions. She sat there in her stroller and smiled at the baby in the mirror the whole time.

So I found a nice chocolate brown pattern skirt and top outfit. The sperm donor later said "I don't know what I think of brown," and I reminded him that Stacy says that chocolate brown is hot. It also helped that I already had some chocolate brown shoes at home. We proceeded to the shoe department anyway. Where we entered heaven...the boot sale.

Anja now knows that Mommy has a boot fetish. In my version of heaven, there are lots of boots. I cannot get through a boot sale without taking home at least one pair of boots. And there they were...black, pointy heal, pointy toe, up to nearly my knees. They actually zipped up my calf easily. The sales guy said they looked hot on my legs (yeah, especially with my black shorts and Alaska t-shirt that zombie's hubby bought for me). They are beautiful, and now they are mine.

The boots cost more than the outfit. I don't care. I have no income and this interview today isn't promising to change that much. But I have my boots. I can't remember the last time I bought myself some shoes that weren't intended to comfort my little swollen feet. Or the last time I bought myself some real clothes. This from the woman who used to buy clothes just because she had a bad day at work. And there were a lot of bad days.

The only regret I have is that the boots were not available in my size in the fabulous chocolate brown color. But that's OK. Maybe when I get home, I'll put them on with some jeans, pump my boobs, and wear them to pick up Anja at day care. And then I'll feel whole again.