Confessions of a Style Stalker

I am style stalking a girl on campus. No– I am not being a creepy creeper following her around campus. But I have noted that her body shape resembles mine and she has a much better sense of style. Most days it’s all I can do to keep from looking like a hobo. I am pretty sure no one is style stalking me.

Unfortunately, I don’t know her, and she would probably not be interested to have some random stranger (me) come up to her and demand to know where she shops and how she learned to dress herself.  I have terrible style. In fact, I have no style.

When I think I look great, it turns out I look terrible (at least according to photos), and when I don’t try to look good, well, I succeed in looking like I showed up to class having rolled straight out of bed. Lack of “style” has long plagued me. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s didn’t help someone of my slightly less than average stature, no decade had less fashion sense that flattered a shorter, buxom and curvy shape than the 90’s.

So here I am, slowly but surely approaching the scary age of 40 and still not comfortable dressing myself. But I am inspired. I saw this girl on the campus courtyard about two months ago. She’s a curvy girl like me, but unlike me, she was well dressed and put together. I’m not talking business wear, ugh, the thought of wearing “fancy” business clothes all day gives me hives. Probably because I think they make me look OLD, and wearing them I do, in fact, feel old. She was wearing age appropriate, but fun, clothes and she made it look so easy!

I wanted to have the confidence to wear what she was wearing. Though, upon further observation I noted I didn’t own one article of clothing that she happened to have on. Then time passed and I forgot about her and over the last several months I unpacked and branched into my cold weather wardrobe, I am more comfortable in layers, wearing scarves, sweaters, and jeans.

However, she came to mind again when I nearly mowed her down as I stomped across the student center on a mission to drop off some paperwork in the college business office. I noticed that yet again she had on a nice outfit that was casual yet appropriate for working in the office, yet she could have just as well been hanging out with friends, or sitting in class.

I don’t know who she is, but I am going to keep me eye out for her to see what she has on. I am stalking her style. Thank god for the internet and Pinterest. I happened to be browsing different categories and I found some fashion bloggers that were getting pinned for wearing the kind of clothes I want to wear. I certainly can’t dress myself the way I used to dress in high school, for starters the body I had then is a long distant memory, secondly, I mostly dressed like a boy back then.

That’s not going to fly when you’re rocking DDD’s. Lastly, I value my mind and I appreciate that as a rational human being I have a clear understanding that at my encroaching age there are some things I should not be wearing, and people I shouldn’t attempt to dress like, certainly not when I have teenage children and I do come into contact with other adults during the course of my day.

The dream is to one day wake up in the morning and not struggle to find something to wear, and that upon leaving the house and having my photo taken in some random situation, that I actually resemble the smart, intelligent woman I believe and know myself to be.