Fashion Style Statement

Well, I have finsihed all the exercises and believe I have found my
statement. It is:

Rustic Elegance

I read the descriptions they have at the back of the book and it
really does fit me amazingly well. I found the whole process to be
rather interesting and thought provoking.

I can see that I have already been doing a fairly decent job of
expressing my Style Statement in my way of dressing, my decorating
style and also in the way I care for my family.

I'm looking forward to seeing what DocP and Murphy come up with :)

It does take some time and I think you do need the book, unless your
willing to pay $850 for the authors to interview you.

There were 115 questions in total. The catagories are: Home+Stuff,
Fashion+Sensuality, Spirit+Learning, Service+Wealth, Relationships
+Community, Creativity+Celebration, Body+Wellness, Nature+Relaxation.
You are asked what does and does not work for you and then you select
key words, phrases and feelings that stand out. Then you narrow down
the stand outs untill you are left with just a few words.

Everything kind of distilled down to those two words for me. I didn't
even look to see if they were choices untill after I found them. When
I read the descriptons they pretty much said it all.

As for time, I think I spent close to 8 hours over a three day period.
I still need to do the last chapter, the how to put me statement to
work for me part.

a Fashionable for me

I read that US vs European buying habits and felt quite naked, ha!
Yep, that's me...boring colors and trying to get sleek bras.

Overall I think good-fitting bras, let alone more "lingerie-esque"
ones, are a hard sell in the US. The culture has been changing a bit,
but I think first-bra shopping tends to be a mother etc dragging in a
young girl to pick a bra off the rack or get fitted in a sort of grim
way. At least in my circles, it wasn't "let's go off to a temple of
femininity and get you in the best bra to support your ligaments and
suit your taste! And we'll do this twice a year."

I don't even want to think about how old most of my bras were before
they got tossed. [I think there's probably a direct correlation
between their age, poor fit, and my need for industrial-strength
uplift today, sniff.] It wasn't ever something addressed by my (girly-
girly but anti-sensualist) mother and it's not a habit I developed on
my own.

My much-younger sister came of age when Victoria's Secret was around,
and she bought herself a whole wardrobe of pretty bras and underwear.
My mother was scandalized, especially as my sister had a boyfriend,
but my sister earned the money herself, so.

But I guess for a lot of people "fancy" looking bras still have a
whiff of the bordello, don't they? Or at least the boudoir.

Though honestly, how about a little truth Ruth -- well-made and -
fitting bras *do* tend to be expensive (ok, yes, I was fascinated by
her blog entry about cheaper vs more expensive wires for underwire!).
In the more unusual sizes you'll rarely find a good sale. So I bet
many women cough me cough are going to try to get the most out of the
budget. Hence a limited wardrobe of ~ 1 nude, 1 black, and 1 strapless/
convertible, maybe 1 plunge -- all unadorned so as to wear under
anything.

ps

> I don't find the extra layer really adds "volume" except

psychologically - sort of like the difference between weighing 129 and
130 pounds.

My bra collection

I didn't realize that either about the colored bras not being big
sellers. I stick to nude, black and I have one light ivory bra but
hardly get any use out of it. I do have a dark eggplant (aubergine)
colored bra that I wear quite often too. I guess with my wardrobe
being mostly dark on top, I tend to stick with basic bras that won't
show through. Yes, I am one of the American women who prefer that my
bra doesn't show through my clothes. I do not like VPL either. I'm
not obsessed with always checking and making sure I don't have it but
I would rather not have it. I think it's just a habit I got into and
not that I care so much about who sees what type of undies I have
on. Like Cuddles said, there are so many things people have to cope
with every day. It's not that important.

a hairy woman trouble with bikini so?

I had my pits and bikini line lasered. Expensive and there are a few
strays but I was gorilla woman so it was sooooooooooooo worth it. I
would get 5 o'clock shadow later THAT DAY which is gross.

Legs are next. I was getting them waxed but it was only lasting a few
weeks and waiting until the hair was 1/4 inch long was annoying. 1
week of smooth, 2 weeks of hairy. Didn't tickle but I have a pretty
high threshold for pain.

If you get lasered, ask them for the Lidocaine cream - makes a huge
difference.