I've been wanting to talk about modesty, but honestly haven't spent enough time thinking about it to share with you. And I would hate for you to waste your time on here :) (You should see the list of topics in my head that I want to discuss and hear your opinions on, that I just haven't gotten around to!)
Luckily there are lots of other people out there who blog about this topic all the time. The only one I've kept tabs on so far is Betty Beguiles, and today she had a short article about knowing how to dress that I enjoyed. There are other better quotes in it, but this one hit home with me:
As a regular victim of “The Impulse Buy” I can only imagine how satisfying it would be to have an open, airy closet stocked with just a handful of outfits that I truly adore, that fit well and have been properly cared for.
The other day I couldn't find a shirt I wanted to wear, despite having 34 sleeveless tops to choose from. (Yes, I just counted them. And yes, that's only the sleeveless ones.) My husband the scientist pointed out that I just need a couple go-to shirts that I love instead of dozens that are only okay. I'm trying to do this, but it is tempting when you go into the nearest superstore and they have tank tops on clearance for $3. I think to myself, "If I wear it just once, I'll have gotten my money's worth from it! There's no way I can pass this up!"
The other day Brooke pointed out that it's hard to dress to be beautiful (as opposed to sexy) because it's hard to find clothes with that goal. While retailers definitely deserve some of the blame, maybe we should reevaluate just how many outfits we need to do this. Perhaps it would be easier for us to dress beautifully, modestly, and flatteringly if we just strived for 2-3 great dresses instead of 12-13. (Okay, you got me. I have 22 summer dresses in my closet. That doesn't count skirts or winter dresses.)
This will be very tough for me to do. But now that I've typed this, I've realized what a clothes lush I am - it's almost disgusting! I'm going to try to do better, perhaps this week as we pack up to move. Any suggetsions of how to best facilitate this? And stop myself in a moment of Target/New York & Company/JC Penney's weakness?
Picture taken from http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Advance_2861.