I’m going to start this blog with a quote from Auntie Acid who says “I’m starting to think I’ll never be old enough to know better”. I remember telling my kids that they were old enough to know better when they did something stupid. I guess I am one of those terrible parents who preach “do what I say not what I do”. Apparently, my siblings (who are also in their 60’s) and I have that faulty thinking that we can still do those activities we used to be a able to do with no problem. I am in physical therapy because I thought I could lift heavy plant containers, my sister thought it was OK to run with my dog a couple of weeks before her heart surgery which ended with a broken wrist, and my brother was able to finally take a deep breath after 3 weeks because he was playing around on his boat pier and bruised his ribs. I guess I never really wanted to know what it would be like getting to the age I am. I remember when I was much younger I thought people my age were so very old. I also remember my father telling me his brain led him to believe he was still young but his body often reminded him that he was anything but young. Crabby Maxine puts it this way, “Young at heart, old everywhere else.” I was wondering “Why do we do those things we do without thinking about the consequences that come with aging?”.
I once read a very profound saying (probably on a T-shirt) that said “Think old and you’ll be old. Think young and you’ll be a Delusional Old Fart”. You can’t win! I decided it was time for me to research why I do those things that might hurt me without thinking about the consequences. Unfortunately, my path to learning about aging was not a pleasant one. I think that the outcome of all that research is that aging changes everyone and we need to accept that our lives won’t stay the same. I think the biggest lesson I have learned is our bodies don’t recover as quickly as they did before. Why is that? Well, here comes the sad story. Our cartilage naturally deteriorates with age and, as our bodies natural shock absorbers wear out, our joints are less able to absorb the demands that our lives place on them. It is a gradual process that sneaks up on us when we hit 50. At 30 we start to lose calcium because of tissue loss which reduces the amount of water in our body so our bones become less dense. I knew about height loss (which starts at age 40) that comes with aging in the bones, muscles and joints but I thought of it as a positive because I was so tall I found it difficult to find pants that were long enough. Unfortunately for me, most of my shrinking is from the waist up. People typically lose almost one-half inch every 10 years after age 40 and we lose a total of 1 to 3 inches in height by the time we hit 70. Our muscles generally lose strength, endurance and flexibility which are factors that affect our coordination, stability and balance. The long-and-short of it is that I have to start thinking about my age before I tackle something that might hurt me. Let’s leave this subject with a chuckle from Crabby Maxine who says “I’m thinking of leaving my body to science. Even scientists can use a good laugh now and then.”
Let’s get to the fashion topic of this blog. At my age I hear the word “hot” and my mind automatically goes to “flashes”. I love how Aunty Acid describes the reason we get hot flashes “Because nature decided that periods, pregnancy, labor, delivery, stretch marks, saggy boobs, and cellulite weren’t enough punishment.” Well, this blog is about “hot pink” which is my favorite pink color. Emotionally it is said that hot pink inspires a more passionate, playful and sensual love. It exudes warmth and happiness and a love of life. The color hot pink brings out memories of Elle Woods in the movie “Legally Blond” when she goes to Harvard in her hot pink leather suit or Marilyn Monroe’s sultry dress in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. A little history; fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli made “shocking pink” popular in the 30’s and 40’s. Before becoming a part of fashion houses DNA, pink was used sparingly for centuries. She made it her signature color and her designs stood out against the restrained palettes that overtook fashion during World War II. The shock value of her designs challenged the preconceived ideas of color, especially pink, and set her apart as a designer.
Shocking pink or hot pink as we know it today is often used in landscape design with roses, hydrangeas and geraniums. I feel that no other color can compete with the hot pink for catching one’s eye. I have a picture of my hot pink flowers below.
This is what I see out my dining room window. Right next to this rose bush is another bigger one with a more draping habit that also produces hot pink flowers. The great thing is that they alternate bloom times so I have hot pink roses all summer long. These bushes sit between a 4 foot wide cluster of Shasta Daisies and a small rose bush with peachy-orange flowers. Neither of these can compete with the beauty of the hot pink roses.
Ok, let’s look at the “hot” pink in my closets.
You already know that my favorite color is yellow and I did a whole blog on mustard yellow. The thing about yellow is that it goes with almost every other color. This two layer hot pink top is bold but the sheer pleated top layer is very feminine. It goes beautifully with the mustard jeans and sandals I think I wore in past blogs. It’s best to accent with a purse the same color as one of the two main pieces when color blocking. You can add other colors with the rest of your accessories as seen below.
The mustard color shell of the necklace, along with the colorful beads, help to make the outfit look cohesive. Since mustard is a brownish yellow I chose a necklace with brown leather instead of the typical black. The wood painted bracelet matches perfectly to the necklace even though they are not a set. The earrings are also painted wood and the colors of the rings and watch help to accent the colors in the necklace.
This is a two piece, button-down, hot pink top. Underneath there is a spaghetti strap slip top with a gauze-like material top over it. Hot pink always looks good with white so I combined it with a hot pink and white polka dot scarf, calf-length white leggings, white sandals and white jewelry. The white takes away some of the “shock” in the shocking pink.
The pearls in the jewelry go perfectly with the white polka dots in the scarf. I typically try to match shapes and metals. The necklace reflects the roundness of the pearls and polka dots as does the watch. The necklace is made of silver and gold metals so I can use either in the rest of the jewelry. The gold rings, bracelet and drop earrings continue the round pattern and contain either real or faux pearls.
I will never give up my leggings. They are way too comfortable. In past blogs I said that if you are using a patterned legging, you must pull the eye back up because the pattern dominates the outfit. The pattern in the leggings have alternating patterns of flowers and a geometric design. I pulled up the eye with a black scarf and a necklace I bought many years ago. I wore neutral black shoes that go great with the geometric design in the leggings and the color of the scarf.
The flower colors in the necklace match the leggings perfectly as do the rest of the beads. It is eye catching which is what you need to bring the eye up. The earrings and the necklace are a set and instead of wearing two rings I wore one big ring and because the necklace was so busy I wore a colorful watch but no bracelet.
Well, that is it for fashion so let’s talk about my weight which is exactly what my gynecologist wanted to talk to me about this past week. Even with all my food allergies, I apparently now weigh more than I did 3 years ago when I last saw her. I wanted to whip out my research and tell her that my metabolism has slowed down with age but somehow I don’t think she would have accepted this excuse. She would probably never except the Crabby Maxine philosophy that I subscribe to which is “How do you prevent sagging? Just eat until the wrinkles fill out!” Sounds good to me.
Until next month, remember God loves you and so do I.
P.S. thank all of you who prayed for my sister. Her heart surgery went off without a hitch and she is out of ICU.
A Peek Into Pam’s Closets 