I gotta admit, for 65-ish, she rocks it.
(What am I saying? For almost any age, she rocks it. Appropriately or not.)
Monday, June 06, 2011
Freebie Teaser: What Nana Wore
The outfit for HB's seventh.
I gotta admit, for 65-ish, she rocks it.
(What am I saying? For almost any age, she rocks it. Appropriately or not.)
I gotta admit, for 65-ish, she rocks it.
(What am I saying? For almost any age, she rocks it. Appropriately or not.)
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26 comments:
Her legs are better than mine.
Isn't it just the patriarchy that tells women to stop dressing sexy or wearing their hair long after childbearing age? So men don't "waste" attention on the non-nubile?
I dunno, Orange - it does seem to me that a lot of the disapproval is woman-on-woman hating. And I own up to doing it myself on occasion - e.g. with Nana. I actually wish my own mom would dress a little less "appropriately." But I don't like seeing my husband squirm when Nana's thong peeps out over the back of her Armani jeans - I guess it's a tricky balance?
It's also contextual -- what's appropriate out for a sexy dinner with your partner isn't necessarily what's appropriate for a kid's party. Which is where this is made of fail.
Wow. Just... Wow.
It's the shoes that really make the outfit, no?
I don't know what to think about the age-based thing. Most of us get saggier and wrinklier over time: I definitely am. Often that's just not as attractive to the human eye. Without making this comment longer than it already is--I also have less of an issue with critical attention when a person is wearing an outfit whose primary goal seems to be inviting attention (as opposed to something that exposes flesh because it's comfortable or whatever). IMO, too, some attention-inviting clothing can seem emotionally immature, and that's part of why it may seem "wrong" on an older person. But "rules" about dress or look based purely on age are dumb. And if a woman wants to and can rock it (and Nana is), go her. Except maybe not at a smallish child's birthday party.
* Actually, I've been wanting to ask you about cellulite, my personal curse (rather, one of them). Is it purely about body fat/muscle ratio, or is there some genetic component as well? Obviously I would like to think the latter since I'm then absolved of as much responsibility. But also I see it on my mother, who I don't think has much body fat at all.
Laurel - cellulite is due to the structure of your connective tissue: if it is net-like, whatever fat there is pushing against it looks bumpy. And there doesn't need to be almost any fat at all for it to be visible. Magazines Photoshop it out. (I love what Tina Fey has to say about that subject in her book, btw.) So - inherited, not your fault, not fixable, and you have my permission at least to Photoshop it out of your Facebook beach photos.
Standing still, I don't see this as an inappropriate outfit. And, I think her age is irrelevant to whether it's appropriate or not (well, I guess unless she was 10, in which case it's still appropriate, except for the shoes).
Now, one of the issues with children's b-day parties (and not a cocktail party) is that the little critters are tiny and run around a lot. So, an outfit that's not inappropriate when you're standing with a drink might be if you have to lean down and talk to a little critter. But, maybe Nana doesn't do that (lean down).
(zb)
I'd feel uncomfortable wearing something that short, and I'm still in my twenties. Sure, she looks great, but, yeah.
Also, you need to post more often, please.
Whew, DoctorMama, thank you for that! I know mine is a lot worse than most women's, even people a couple decades older. It bothers me a lot, but then again I'm not in pain and I'm pretty darn healthy in all the ways that count, so I can definitely live with it. (Been meaning to read Fey's book!)
I don't really see this as inappropriate either. The shirt is totally 100% fine from where I'm sitting. The skirt is too, really. As zb said, it may not work all that well for bending down to talk to kids, but that's her business, IMO.
I know that she's inappropriate in many many ways. And yet...I'm really uncomfortable gathering round to marvel at her outfit's inappropriateness. Something about that feels really wrong to me.
Jess - I'm guessing you don't like the Glamour "Don't" section! I think I can see where you're coming from, but it doesn't feel wrong to me ... maybe because I put myself up for debate too. I find the question of what to wear as we age very interesting, and I know I'm willing to laugh at myself and to feel envy of Nana in certain ways. But! Maybe I'm just falling into the mean girl trap?
Well, post a picture of what you wore to HB's b'day party, and we can critique that :-).
Oh, and while we're at it, let's do TH (that's trophy husband, too).
(zb)
You guessed right. I think there's two parts of this, for me.
One is that you don't really care for this woman, and snarking at her outfit (which really isn't all that bad, IMO) feels like you said, a little bit like a mean-girls kind of thing.
The other is that as you said, I don't really care for outfit critiques in general. I cannot STAND when people say "oh, she really shouldn't be wearing that" (meaning, I assume, "that's not flattering on her" and often directed at those who are fat or old). I think everyone should be wearing exactly what they want to wear, for the most part. (Work attire may be an exception to that.) But in daily non-work life, I think people should wear what they want, regardless of whether it is flattering to them. I also think the idea that they should do otherwise often comes dangerously close to the idea that what we wear should always be about making ourselves attractive, or that there is a "right" (patriarchally approved) way to dress at any given age.
I just want to know if Nana has had any "work done." Has she had laser treatments? Does she work out? I need to know so I can wear inappropriate outfits to my Grandchildren's birthday parties, someday. (I only have ~23 years until I'm Nana's age.)
Heh.
Jess, I would agree with you completely, with two important, related, caveats. That the issue was not really whether it is flattering or not, and that children's events seem in a similar category to me to work.
It's basically about this being a sexy outfit. Whether or not the person wearing it is attractive to you, the outfit signifies sexuality. I am LOATHE to enter into this realm because it smacks a bit of 'well, she deserved it, she was wearing a short skirt' and people's (women's) bodies being public property. It's that difficult thing of a person being more than their clothes (or hair or taste in music or whatever) but we also choose our clothes to say something about us.
Just like we modulate our appearance for work, the same goes for children's events, in that it is NOT ABOUT YOU and dress should reflect the general consensus of what is appropriate. Not dressing to the event might mean a lot of things, but having a mother who is very much like this myself, I'd say it's another sign of 'my reality trumps your reality'. Of course, that's just my pop psychology, so pinch of salt.
I mean, on the one hand, good for her! And on the other... I mean, on a practical level, those shoes limit the ways she can interact with a seven year old.
DM..she looks a bit like a stripper waiting to start work..lol maybe its the shoes lol. I find posters get so uptight, she does dress uh..interesting for her age and the events. I LOVE your Nana stories, I had a Nana just like her and man we laugh at her lunacy now that she's passed on , but man she could twist a story incident in ways that had everyone on each other.
Nana is a charm and a treat. Just don't send her my way tee hee.
Post more please LOVE LOVE your posts you rock!
idk, if I was rocking that body at 65 I would be showing it off, too. I mean, she is def dressed a little too night time for a child's bday but she looks good. Just looking at her, I would think she was in her 30's.
That said, I'm far too modest. I'm 30 and don't wear things that short outside of the beach!
I guess the third part of it, for me, is that I just don't see her outfit as all that sexy, quite frankly. The skirt is short and the shoes are "night time," but it certainly doesn't look like a stripper to me. I'm honestly shocked that people find her outfit so inappropriate.
This outfit was tame compared to 2 years ago:
http://doctormama.blogspot.com/2010/05/nana-in-flesh.html
I actually showed more skin at the party than Nana did ... I will post the pics of me as soon as I can steal a moment and see what you all have to say about that. (And Kate: exactly.)
Well, I'm just bloody jealous, that's all.
Fiona
OK outfit, a bit too short for me, but not for a 7 yo birthday party. But at least she's covered this year.
Can't wait to hear about the truce.
The outfit is fine by me. My gut reaction was that is totally appropriate and she has great legs! Go, Nana!
Although, this brings to mind a guest at my son's sixth birthday party in late April, who was dressed oddly for a child's party. She was the mother of one of my son's best friends and she showed up in four-inch heels, tight jeans (with black thong very visible when she bent over to speak to kids, which she did, frequently) and see-through lace top. Make-up, jewelry, the whole shebang.
I thought nothing of it.
She spend the whole party chatting with my husband, which I honestly hadn't noticed, busy as I was organizing the party, until a friend of mine pointed it out. I told my friend not to be catty and mean.
Turns out the woman was having an affair with my husband. They had slept together two nights previous in a hotel not an hour away from our home.
So, I am now wary of women who dress like that at kiddie parties.
Anonymous–wow, that is NOT where I thought your comment was going. So sorry.
Yeah, well, I didn't expect it either. Just sayin', there could very well be something to be wary of in women who dress like that.
I definitely think with a body like that Nana should dress this way at a grown-ups party or an evening out with her significant other. But I agree it's a little much for a kid's party when you're the grandma. If she was just the hot aged neighbor I wouldn't judge, but I do think it sends a message that it's all about her, not about the kid. If she were wearing different shoes, the outfit would have a much different feel to me.
But I hate the "she's too old for that" scrutiny. If it looks good on her and it doesn't actually have, like, Justin Bieber's face on it or "hot girlie" inscribed across the front, I say go for it lady, at whatever age.
Not my style, personally, but minis are in this year, and I say, if you got it, flaunt it. She does have fantastic legs.
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