I, Too, Shall Wear Purple

 “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” - Oscar Wilde

Why do we worry about how to dress, how to put ourselves out there, what is appropriate to be and wear and show in today's society?  Have baby boomer women ever strived to be 'The Norm'?  Our age has been about not fitting into labels and slots and expectations, haven't we?  Yes, society/culture would like us to fit into the Norm.  But, really, I believe what we wear, how we look, says a whole lot about our identity.  And, yes, I shall wear purple... hair... lol

How we look expresses how we feel about ourselves at that certain moment.  It says a great deal about who we are.  It shows our uniqueness.  It shows our morals and our disciplines.  How we look, how we dress, how we do our makeup, expresses our freedom to be who we choose to be and showing that.  The baby boomer women are , for the most part of us, defining ourselves in this new age.  Most of us are defying old ways of appropriateness for our age.  Some of us declare that we are not invisible in this culture of ours.

We do not dress to impress.  We dress according to how we feel about ourselves on a certain day or certain moment.  It defines, clarifies, and expresses our thoughts about self, indeed.  We alter, or not alter, ourselves according to this.  Our body is our home and we decorate it accordingly. 

I have noticed this in myself, for sure.  Some days I feel like shorts and a grungy Tee-shirt.  Some days, I spend time on self and dress up this old gray mare...jingles and all.  Some days I am classic.  Some days I have real flair, or so I think.  It affects what I put out there as Self.  It helps me to define self as I am in the present.  Some days, my dress and appearance shows that I just do not have my mojo.  Some days, I mojo all over the place.  It influences how other people react to me.  It influences me to be perceived a certain way.  Some days not.

I am aware that some days, my outward appearance is a type of armor, or mask.  Some days, I am who I am and show who I am with no shame, no guilt, no apologies.  Where I am, I am.  Who I am, might be who I am.  My outside is like a cover of a book.  Some times that cover is a warning, sometimes a pleasure.  Sometimes I am all hell-bent.  Some days I am withdrawn.  It shows on me.  It shows on you. 

I love to sit on a bench or in an outdoor cafe and watch women as they pass by.  Perhaps my background in art therapy gives me a sense of women.  Spend some time doing this.  Being aware of how we put ourselves 'out there' is important.  If we dress 'too proper', too 'tight', too much of anything, we put people off and look unapproachable.  Maybe some mean too.  If we are all 'Boho', which is my favorite right now, we are approachable because we are not putting out a rigid personality of ourselves.  Be an observer of how women define themselves in their own cover.  Then, really consider how we might dress on an ongoing process.  Are you who you really are?  Are you approachable in this hard world of more and more isolation?  What does your cover say about you?

©Carol Desjarlais 6.5.19