Monday, March 18, 2013

The Beauty Experiment


While I admire the premise of this book, I wasn't too impressed with it. Maybe I'm just getting impatient in my old age, but it seems like she took a lot of pages not to say very much. I do admire her for finding her own way with regard to her hair, makeup, and clothing. I, too, am tired of seeing ultra-made up faces everywhere you turn and photoshopped bodies in magazines. And don't get me started on plastic surgery! Our culture is obsessed with an unattainable perfection. At least she's willing to look natural and real. I've shared her angst with trying to find the perfect dress for a party only to be frustrated in those 3-way dressing room mirrors with how many bumps and lumps can be seen.

My 14-year-old daughter and I have been doing a lot of shopping lately to find her something to wear to a school masquerade dance. We found it fairly quickly, but just walking into a store and being confronted by all the choices almost makes me hyperventilate! I HATE shopping. Add in the stress of trying to agree with a teenager on dress length and top coverage and it's a wonder I don't break out into hives!

We did agree on one thing. We've both noticed how before you walk into the store you feel pretty good about yourself, but as soon as you walk through those big glass doors, you feel dowdy and inadequate. The clothes are so perfect and the salespeople are the same. And then to add insult to injury, you have to confront the dreaded 3-way mirror in the dressing room. Shopping online eliminates all the negative aspects of shopping for me. I can look at the garments one at a time and not have my senses assailed by too many selections. And I can shop in my pajamas and no makeup. Shopping bliss, I tell you!

9 comments:

magsmcc said...

I just don't shop. Not for clothes!!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

So much truth here, Debbie. But when I walk into a store to shop, I think two things...what a shame girls and women are accepting...and buying!... the clothes to make them dress like street whores and isn't it a shame the store is missing the market that has the $$$...boomer women!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

p.s. there's a third thing I think, "Sandra, you have NO need of new clothing, unless it's underwear!"

Jeannette said...

Ha! The last time I was cloth shopping it was for foundations, as they were called by the dear neighbor of my childhood who lived down the road from me . She took the bus every day over the Golden Gate Bridge to her job at The White House Dept Store in San Francisco. I remember the sales ladiy's job used to be to make you feel at home and pass other choices over the fitting room door and check the fit and tell you when something looked workable.

I can do shopping only in very small doses and with specific needs in mind. Recently I ventured into a large department store for some new foundations and stood in front of the three way mirror in unrelentingly harsh light and wept for a moment. Then I got a hold of myself...and smiled at the mystery in the mirror. I was helped at the cash register by a lovely young woman whose kindness was not lost on me, but I'm still not likely to hurry back.

Pom Pom said...

Inner beauty. I've learned more about it and I have a lifetime of wisdom yet to learn.
We should be like the animals that all look the same. I think focusing on our appearance is an effort to attain power, looking prettier than someone else or thinner. That's not love.

Just this morning I was thinking about clothes and realizing that I really want to look friendly and comforting. Even in my younger years, I couldn't really manage to conform to the world's view of beautiful.
I think I was a little "off" when our girls were shopping for dance dresses. I thought they were so lovely in all ways that I sort of got caught up in it all and now I see it differently. Thankfully, now they are very wise about the outer shell in spite of their mother's cuckoo ways.
Good thinking, friend.

Gumbo Lily said...

I really need very few clothes. I tend to wear the same thing -- jeans and T-shirt and an occasional blouse. Then for church or weddings and etc., I wear skirts/tops. Pretty simple. I have been ordering a few dresses online for my son's upcoming wedding to try. Simple again -- a sheath dress and sandals. I like uncomplicated.

The same for make-up. Moisturize, eyes, blush, gloss, done.

Gumbo Lily said...

P.S. I like your style -- jeans, polka dot socks, sneakers. Cute!

M.K. said...

I WANT to shop at home, online, for all the good reasons you list. But I'm a larger woman, and I can't trust the sizing. :( I really need to try things on. Thus ... I hardly ever shop.

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