| The July 4th holiday
brings picnics, parades and fireworks, but alas, it is also
the official start of the bathing suit sales. Since I take
an exercise swim class year-round, this is the time I must
survey my bathing suit wardrobe and replace any suits that
are deteriorating due to the effects of chlorine or shredding
in strategic places.
This is annually the most embarrassing and thoroughly depressing
procedure (second only to a colonoscopy) that I must endure.
I start by paging through the bathing suit catalogs to
find out if my figure is an apple, triangle, pear or diamond.
Unfortunately, it is all of these shapes with some unidentified
additional problem areas.
My husband has worn the same pair of maroon trunks with
drawstring waist for 10 years and his only worry are his
knobby knees.
I have been trying to take solace in Carol Tuttle’s
“Dressing Your Truth … Discover Your Personal
Beauty Profile,” in which she states that every woman
is innately beautiful. By learning your personal “Beauty
Profile,” you can start dressing your truth.
Tuttle is an alternative psycho-therapist who helps to
empower women to make fashion and beauty choices in harmony
with their personal Beauty Profile, expressing the true
nature of who they are. While her book is interesting and
helpful, she is a psycho-coward because nowhere does she
mention the bathing suit ordeal.
I defy any woman older than 25 with a less-than-perfect
figure and traces of cellulite, to stand in front of a four-way
mirror lighted by industrial strength, fluorescents, surrounded
by pricey bathing suits the size of a newborn’s diaper,
to feel supremely confident. In her book, Carol describes,
in great detail, the four basic types of women:
1. Bright, Animated
2. Subtle and Soft
3. Rich, Dynamic
4. Bold and Striking
In reading all the descriptions, including the kind of
childhood you had, although the author states that you really
can be only one type, I felt I fell squarely between a bright
and animated and a rich and dynamic. I have always favored
colorful classics made distinctive by their good fabrics
and tailoring details, but my age and additional weight
have added considerations I did not have to think about
in my 30s and 40s.
Perhaps my new, basic style would best be described as
“Matronly Optimistic.” Men and their personality
types are never mentioned; perhaps it is because all the
retired men I know fit nicely into one classification:
1. Casual to Sloppy
Val has never had to concern himself about dressing to
reflect his inner persona. Indeed, he doesn’t even
worry as I do about what to wear for a special occasion,
planned for, say, late September. My self-conversation in
front of my closet dismisses the good white dress as too
summery, the black sleeveless as ideal, but we could be
seated under an air-conditioning vent and I’ll get
chilblains, and the turquoise sheath with jacket is getting
tight in the hips and anyway the matching shoes hurt my
feet.
Val, an hour before the event, will pull out of the plastic
garment bag his navy jacket and khaki trousers and never
even get upset over the fact that all the other men at the
event will be wearing the exact same thing.
Although I seldom buy clothes that I don’t like or
rarely wear, for women who haven’t as yet, developed
a personal style, Carol Tuttle’s book offers a lot
more practical advice than the “What Not to Wear”
television show or the several-hundred-dollar-a-day closet
experts.
For more, go to Carol Tuttle’s http://dressingyourtruth.com/.
Jean Cherni is founder of Senior
Living Solutions, a retirement advisory service. Contact
her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds, Branford
06405.
H. Pearce Company REALTORS®
is a full-service real estate company with more than 100
agents and branch offices in greater New Haven and the Shoreline.
Corporate and & Commercial offices are located in North
Haven, where the company was founded in 1958. All listings
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