Style

I am a longtime reader of Lady Lydia's blog, Home Living. I love her writing and her assertions about a woman's role in the home. I also enjoy her sewing creations and home decorating, especially her tea settings. 
Even better, she has been gracious enough to mentor me about marriage by email.

That said, our personal styles are quite different.  She prefers to wear a sort of Victorian-inspired wardrobe. I think she looks wonderful! But I don't want to dress that way. It's just not me. She can wear capes, fascinator hats, little pointy boots, puffed sleeves and ruffles. It just looks ridiculous on me. I have a really small head. I mean really. The simpler my clothing, the more normal my head looks.

I share her goals of dressing femininely and modestly, but that's where it ends. I prefer a more contemporary look, but not exactly modern. I can't stand trends. You'll never see me in chevron or zebra or geometric prints, or colorblocking, or in these off-the-shoulder blouses that are suddenly everywhere. And I hate shirts with words unless it's from an organization or event. You know the ones I hate, like "Live, Laugh, Love" or some such nonsense. Yuck.

My basic style

But I love simple, clean lines and natural fabrics. Like Lady Lydia, I love to wear long skirts and dresses, but I don't really like prints too much. I only own two printed skirts. I basically wear skirts and dresses from knee- to ankle-length, high-neck tank tops or tee shirts under cardigans, 3/4-sleeve cotton shirts, tunics and long sweaters, and long-sleeve tee shirts. I usually wear leggings under my shorter skirts and dresses.

Really, really simple. Cardigan. Boatneck. Slim-fit. A-line. Cotton and wool. No fuss. 

While I like Lady Lydia's decorating style in her home, I mix her shabby-chic sweetness with a more rustic, natural look. I like dark woods, unpainted wicker, ethnic art and earth tones. But like her, I absolutely love to use white. It's so fresh and clean, and really cheerful in its own way. 

My ideal kitchen!

My clothing colors do differ from hers; I like her bright colors and pastels, but they don't look well on me. I wear a mix of earth tones, jewel tones, white and black. I know she will never wear black as a neutral, but it just suits me without looking funereal. Besides, I live in a more metropolitan area than she does, and black is common here.

I can't really wear pink, though I wish I could. After my year of bad acne, wearing pink serves to highlight my pink acne scars. I wore it better when I had a clear complexion. 

I like offbeat, bohemian things as well. I treasure my brightly-colored woven placemats from Africa that were a gift from a friend. I love long cotton crinkle skirts. I have two pairs of earrings made from real seashells, and a beautiful dyed-silk wrap bracelet with an enameled penny in it that was a gift from another friend. I still wear my hair in braids. I wear a recycled-fabric mini-backpack instead of carrying a purse. That is one 90's trend that I find to be rather useful!

Comfiest summer shoes!

I can only wear flat shoes. I have a bunion on one foot, and a pre-bunion on the other. In fact, it's healthiest for buniony-feet to be barefoot most of the time, which I try to be, but when I go out I wear flat shoes with cushioned soles and roomy toe boxes. I have casual cool-brown Crocs ballet flats, shiny black Stride Rite ballet flats for church, black leather sandals from Ahnu ($100 shoes at a yard sale, $2!!), blue and white patterned Keds sneakers, black Frank slip-ons by Natural Soul, and brown faux-leather sandals from Naturalizer. I sneaked in my pink with my white-and-pink Asics running shoes! As to Lady Lydia's cute pointy-toed boots, my toes say noooo.

I try to not worry too much about style, as it is a superfluous thing, but it is important to be considerate in how we dress. I don't like to draw attention to myself, and want to be neat and modest. I also don't want to give the impression of being too trend-conscious, which I find abhorrent anyway, but I do sometimes feel a little uncomfortable when I'm dressed a bit too fashion-forward. Doesn't happen often at least.

I also don't want to sacrifice propriety for comfort. I have been able to find comfortable, appropriate, modest clothing which doesn't look like I threw it on with a pitchfork. I bite my tongue when I see ladies in public wearing fuzzy pajama pants. They are usually wearing makeup and earrings, by the way; guess they were too content in being comfy to bother with the rest of the outfit! A simple cotton skirt, cotton tee shirt, wool cardigan and a pair of sandals is all as comfy as my pajamas and slippers, and it doesn't take more than a few seconds to put on. Make some effort, people!