Privilege Blog

New Mirror Same Person, Or, Saturday Morning at 10:01am

Good morning. If you remember, I am prone to caveats when posting my outfits. I’ve been concerned about the inaccuracy of my mirror. So, we got a new one. I still don’t think I look like this but really, doesn’t that bring up the fundamental question of what do we look like, and to whom, from what perspective? And, having brought it up, aren’t we well advised to say, “That’s nice, dear,” and talk about our favorite jeans instead?

These are my 100% cotton barrel-legs from UNIQLO. I wore jeans this shape in the 80s. I loved them then and still do. Here, with a Ted Baker floral tee and pearl drop earrings, for a Zoom with my English cousins, my father, and my stepmother. Our cousins sat in their garden as we spoke. In the world as we now know it I felt elegant. UNIQLO doesn’t sell these right now, but looks like some brands are still in.

And Ted Baker kindly offers other floral tees. I find them really pretty.

I also have a pair of dark wash barrel legs. I tell you, if you’re long enough of torso that your waistline persists, at least a little, into your 60s, and you’re broad-shouldered and welcome a little volume at the hips and thighs to balance, this silhouette is your friend. I hope you have a favorite shape too.

I wore this to visit my optometrist. I felt it was the bare minimum to participate in polite commerce. Brown shoes with a black tee was all the style I could muster. (My other foot’s there somewhere, I promise.) She seemed unperturbed. Success, in the world as we now know it.

If I were to dress these up, I’d roll them and wear ankle boots. I think. Or square-heeled pumps. Something to think about.

Given my experience with a new mirror, I have decided categorically, that, within a few social boundaries–and they are fewer and fewer all the time–it’s how we feel in clothes that matters most. There is absolutely no one way that we actually “look.”

Have a wonderful weekend.

26 Responses

  1. Love your “in an English country garden” top! I hope your English cousins, seated in their own English country garden, appreciated the compliment to their national pastime…

    As for the bottoms on that outfit: only someone as trim as you can get away with pants as baggy as those. I also think that whatever mirror you put on the wall, you will always be among the fairest of them all!

    1. Aw, why thank you:). My English cousins mostly like just noticed that I couldn’t stop laughing as they are extremely witty and charming!

  2. Love the barrel shaped jeans and loved them in the ’80s as well. And the floral tees. No idea what works on me at the moment, as both my body and my perceptions are going through random fluctuations. My only goal is to be decently covered if I get out of the house, how that will affect my future style is yet to be determined. Love that — “there is no one way that we actually “look””. I think how we feel carries through, and the rest is just dandelion fluff. My favorite image at the moment.

  3. You look wonderful–as you always do–Lisa. We need a new floor length mirror too. Would you share what you purchased?

    I am very camera shy because I am always so shocked at how I look in photos. I have had more than one person tell me that I actually look nothing like my photos.

  4. Thank you for sharing about those Uniqlo jeans. I bought both the white and the medium wash denim last year (?). I wound up chopping them off at the bottom as I am petite so rolling the bottom up doesn’t work for me. However I am enjoying both, especially the white jeans. It’s a comfortable cut – nice and roomy!

    Have a great weekend!

    1. So roomy! And I’ve seen you wearing those in your Instagram feed. They suit you really well-so much flair.

  5. Love the jeans, particularly in the blue denim. I’m 5′ 4″, broad of shoulder, and narrow of waist, but I don’t think I have a long torso. I do love wide-leg jeans. They’re the most comfortable fit, and I think it’s possible to make them elegant in a trouser-like way, depending on how I choose to complete my outfit, or not complete my outfit.:) Firm and longtime agreement that the only thing that matters in dressing is to feel good in what one chooses to wear. I disregard trends, keep my clothes for as long as I can, and find that classic styles with a bit of an edge or an unusual (atypical?) detail last though decades. Happy Saturday, my lovely one.

    1. Happy Saturday to you too, K. I love the way you hang out to your clothes. Such respect for the materials.

  6. I was with you until you said “and welcome a little volume at the hips and thighs to balance”. I have enough of that already, thanks. Although I should try some on just to see how the shape works, because I do like some ventilation in my clothes. You look great.

    1. Thank you. And really, sometimes just doubling down on volume is a great strategy, as long as it’s balanced elsewhere somehow.

  7. You look simply wonderful… no matter the mirror. I don’t have your shape but I admire your style.
    *love the shoe wardrobe!

    1. Aw, you are so nice! I should tell you all the story of that shoe closet. Thanks for reminding me!

  8. I never understood cubism until a caption in the Prado in Madrid explained it as trying to understand what something looked like by capturing it from every angle at the same time. And then I realised I will never understand or know what I look like either, but nor will anyone else.

    Your outfits look great, even if these pictures are just one of many angles.

  9. You were way ahead of the fashion trends with your love for wide legged jeans – I remember us all trying to get you into skinnies very well.
    Now I like wide leg as well – both the look and the comfort.

    You’re my new fashion guru. xoxo

    1. I would never, ever, remotely, presume to be your guru. But, I’m overjoyed to be practicing on adjacent mats;).

  10. You have selected nice outfits and your style is great. You know what looks good on you and put your outfits together with perfection. A good mirror helps to confirm this!

  11. I LOVE that look and you wear it so well. Sadly, I am very short of torso and those are probably not the jeans for me. . . The t-shirt, though . . . ;-)

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