Actually, I am prepared to buy the wife a fancy, dancy sewing machine, to make me some shirts, but she is hedging due to time. I can find fabric, just not finished goods. Pants I can find.....if I want khaki, or jeans. Not much else. Of course, they keep cutting them smaller, so I keep having to increase the size, despite the fact my belt fits the exact same hole as always. The other issue, is they use nylon zippers in pants now. How stupid is that? Might be ok for a dress, but doesn't hold up at all in men's pants. Nope. I ain't getting into any more businesses, whatsoever. Too old, and more than ready to retire. If the idiots in the fashion industry can't recognize their problems, then clothes will just have to be left on the rack. Oh yeah.....used to have to take extreme measures to make garments look good in fashion......including cutting the back of women's tops, so they would hang right in the front. (grin) If you knew all the tricks and manipulations used in photographing this stuff, you would be pretty surprised. Even with beaded and sequined gowns......we used a whole lot of pinning and clipping, to "adjust" garments. The stylist was the most important person on the team. It was their job to make the garments look good on the model.....any way they could. CD of the day...."Lullaby for the Moon", koto and shakuhachi.

"Doesn't matter to me whether I'm staying home to do yardwork & housework all day, am out running errands, or meeting someone for lunch; I pull myself together to the best of my ability everyday. Maybe no one else notices or cares what this almost 50 year old woman has on her face and body, but making an effort and playing with color and style gives me a lift!" Stinky, I SO get that!! This is instilled in me from my grandmother. She was exactly as you. Even at 95, in her assisted living villa, she still makes sure her hair is combed, etc. before leaving her room. She doesn't do much makeup now, just a bit of lipstick. I agree, it DOES make one feel better to know you are looking your best. An added plus is my husband appreciates the effort. Why wouldn't I want to look as good for him as I would if I were going out to meet/see others??? But back to the original question - I've never seen an outfit worn like you've described out in public. Not that I can think of. Not even on a our college campus LOL!! Although I did see a gal last year with short-shorts, a fitted man style shirt and those patterned RUBBER BOOTS! heee!! I don't have children, but have on occasion picked up a friend's daughter for her and most moms I see are dressed casual. Nothing provacative although like someone said - there's one in every crowd, I must just be missing her. You can say the same about the workplace, there is usually one there too.

I love scarves for dressing up an outfit. I wore them a lot in Europe as they are an extra layer...over the shoulders for the cathedral, over the head for a drizzle, around the neck if it's chilly, around the purse if it's hot... Below is a nice video for ideas about how to tie a scarf. However, I too am in the camp of no more turtlenecks...when I have a hot flash, it feels like strangulation. Scarves I can take off, but turtlenecks, I'm stuck. Such a shame as I have a zillion of them...I lived in them all winter when I was working...they look so great under a jacket, with or without a scarf, necklace or lapel pin... I have a couple of white shirts, but I have trouble finding them opaque enough, I never have them ironed so when I'm rushing to get dressed, I by pass them for something that doesn't need ironing, and with my coloring, the white is a washout on me so I have to add color besides. I also have to worry about length as I'm short...tunic shapes just cut me off. Then there's the boobage issue...button fronts can gape on me which also isn't fun. (I remember giving a talk one time, and the fellow in the front row was staring at my belly. I realized my shirt had gaped and he was seeing skin. At least it wasn't in the boob arena. Last time I did that! After that it was pullovers, button in the back, long scarves in front or camis underneath!) So for me, it's not a go to item, though I can see how it could be for someone else. Also, these days, I'm so into comfort that knits are by far my favorites...they move and stretch with me. When I wear wovens without any lycra in them, I feel like I'm fighting my clothes. I didn't try them, but was tempted....I was in walmart and see that Lee is making a super comfortable jean now out of very stretchy, very soft denim with almost a flannel like feel...a real cross between a legging and a jean...but they also had them boot cut. Next time I'm at the VF outlet, I'll have to take a look. Here is a link that might be useful: how to tie a scarf

There was no proscribed # of quilts for a girl to have.....this, as with so many other aspects of life would depend on her socio-economic situation and even geographic location. A family with little means would require all the children to work...to do their part for the family welfare, so those girls would simply not have the means or the time to prepare an elaborate dowry of linens. A girl from a comfortable family would be much more likely to have the means and the time to work on hers, and would 'add' fancier things like samplers (to use to help her when she marked all her linens), while a wealthy girl would spend her time, not on mundane household linens, but fancywork, to show her 'abilities'. As late as the late 1800s, this sort of thing was the case. My own grandmother, born in 1880, attended 'finishing school' where she learned to do fancy needlework, play the piano, paint china,etc - all considered 'ladylike' things to do. Her sister, my great aunt, wanted to go to teachers college and their father said absolutely 'NO"! So, she 'finished', and was given a wonderful string of pearls as her graduation gift, as all the sisters received from their father. My grandmother was married by this time, so her sister moved in with my grandparents, sold her pearls and used the money to go to college! What a woman! The 'moral' of the story is, I guess, each family was different, in what they could or would provide.