Posted on: Tuesday, October 12, 2004
 |
ABOUT WOMEN
Economy is always in style
| • | Previous About Men/Women |
| • | Join our About Men/Women discussion |
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
I may not be the most fashion-conscious person.
When you're exiting your 20s, matching bags to shoes suddenly becomes less important.
But I'm not an irrational dresser, either.
Or so I think, says my boyfriend.
He sees me as his fashion project. Which seems ironic, because his idea of dressing up is wearing a belt.
Sure, the most expensive thing in my closet is a pair of running shoes — bought on sale — but I don't think I dress horribly enough to be caught on the back page of Glamour.
My look is what I call Subtly Chic. Think Old Navy meets Banana Republic's sale rack.
Everything I own comes in your basic wearable, matchable colors — black, white, brown and blue, maybe some red for impact. I never worry about what shoes to wear with a lime-green poncho, for example, and that keeps me sane in the morning.
But this isn't good enough for my would-be metrosexual boyfriend, who, I should point out, wears a T-shirt and board shorts to work every day. He desperately wants me in the lime-green poncho, the pink-striped pants, the plaid skirt — anything but the six pairs of black dress pants and four white knit tops hanging in my closet.
"Why don't you wear something different?" he moaned when I emerged in a black turtleneck over jeans.
"Why? What's wrong with this?" I asked, hands on my hips. "Do I look bad?"
(This, of course, is a trick question. But he's learned some things in the past two years.)
"No," he said, picking his words with the delicacy used when handling explosives. "It's just that, you know, you don't wear anything fun."
Fun. This means "trendy" to my boyfriend. And "trendy," to me, means "spending ridiculous amounts of money on some overpriced frivolous thing I'll wear only once." And that's not my style.
It's not that I wouldn't enjoy a disposable wardrobe. Who wouldn't love to shop like Paris Hilton, dropping three grand on a pair of earrings like you were buying laundry detergent? But it's just not practical. Not when you're paying off student loans, and line-drying your clothes because your electricity bill exceeded your monthly car payment.
A good portion of my wardrobe predates my professional career. In fact, what motivates me to work out these days is more about saving money on new clothes than fitting into smaller leather pants. That's how low fashion is on my list of priorities.
The good thing about avoiding ruffles, feathers and cut-offs: my clothing never goes out of style. Of course, they don't get much attention, either.
So my vague attempts at fashion still contrast with my boyfriend's insistence that I should put more effort into it. Like he does, he says.
Or so he thinks.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
