I've been feeling my age lately. Maybe I should say, noticing my age. And not in a bad way. Not in a "woe is me, I'm getting old" way. Rather, in an objective observer, almost out-of-body-experience way. A kind of... huh... I'm sixty-two... waddya know... way. If that makes any sense. ![woman in denim jacket and black dress]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: Paige jean jacket, black linen dress by Click by Colour Me Cotton, necklace by Anna Marie Chagnon, earrings by Kate Spade") |
| Noticing my age: the lines on my neck, around my eyes, and on my upper lip. |
And instead of being bothered, I'm kind of happy. Happy to be joining a fraternity of women I admire, and revere. All those older women I know, and some I have never met, who embrace getting older. So to celebrate my new found equanimity, I went out and bought a new dress. Actually I bought the dress the day before my birthday, at a small store called Escape on Bank Street here in Ottawa. I went there in my quest for a flowy, cream-coloured cami to wear under my crocheted sweater, and I came home with a dress.
![woman in black dress and sandals holding a denim jacket]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: black linen dress by Click by Colour Me Cotton, Paige jean jacket, Michael Kors sandals, necklace by Anne Marie Chagnon, earrings Kate Spade, leather cuff by Caroline Faiers.") |
| I loved this dress the minute I pulled it on. |
You see, Leslie, co-owner of Escape, and I were chatting while she pulled tank after tank, and what seemed like a million camis and underpinnings, all of which I tried on with my sweater, to no avail. And then she pointed to a rack of linen dresses from a brand called "Click by Colour Me Cotton" made in California. And I tried on this one and loved it.
![woman in black dress and sandals holding a denim jacket]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: black linen dress by Click by Colour Me Cotton, Paige jean jacket, Michael Kors sandals, necklace by Anne Marie Chagnon, earrings Kate Spade, leather cuff by Caroline Faiers.") |
| My new dress has a full skirt but it's not girly. |
The dress has a full skirt, but it's not a girly full skirt. The way the fabric is pieced together, and the myriad pin-tucks all over the skirt, and along the hem, make it fall in soft folds, slightly longer at the sides than in the middle. And it's a perfect length for me. A longer midi skirt, that hits me at mid-calf, would make my legs look like sticks. That's the same reason wide-leg cropped pants are not flattering on me. Well, one of the reasons. Ha.
![woman in black dress, black sandals, and denim jacket]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: black linen dress by Click by Colour Me Cotton, Paige jean jacket, Michael Kors sandals, necklace by Anne Marie Chagnon, earrings Kate Spade, leather cuff by Caroline Faiers.") |
| The perfect length dress with flats and a jean jacket. |
The dress is light and airy. I love it with my old Michael Kors sandals and my Paige jean jacket. I think it needs something at the neck, so I wore my Anne-Marie Chagnon necklace, and for a bit more colour, I added the red leather cuff by Caroline Faiers that I bought in Covent Garden last fall. I felt pulled together, exceedingly comfortable, and pretty darned fabulous in this outfit. A kind of "this is me at sixty-two" outfit. I'm a little bit older, a little bit more wrinkly, a little bit heavier... but what the hell... who cares, eh?
![woman in black dress, black sandals, and denim jacket]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: black linen dress by Click by Colour Me Cotton, Paige jean jacket, Michael Kors sandals, necklace by Anne Marie Chagnon, earrings Kate Spade, leather cuff by Caroline Faiers.") |
| My "this is me at 62" outfit. |
And since I had had such a great experience at Escape, when my sister Carolyn and I had a day out shopping together recently, that's where we headed first. Carolyn was looking for a few business casual pieces, jeans, and some tops to wear under her lab coat at work. I was just looking. We laughed when we came out of the dressing room wearing the same shirt. Ha. It was ever thus. What one has the other wants. That's sisters for you. Now we each have a pink striped summer shirt.
![two smiling women in pink striped shirts]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: pink striped shirts by Renuar") |
| Carolyn and me on our sisters' shopping day in our matching shirts |
I have a long, long history of shopping with my big sister. See this old faded photo below? It was taken in downtown Fredericton. In 1966, I think. That's me, age ten, in the plaid jacket. I remember I was wearing my Maple Leaf tartan windbreaker, shorts, sneakers and a white blouse that day. You can see Carolyn on my left if you look carefully. She has her long hair pulled up into a bun on top of her head, an orange tee shirt, and white slacks on. I'm turning around to look at the soldier in uniform who's getting his picture taken with one of those new-fangled, self-developing Polaroid cameras. When they pulled the picture out of the camera and noticed that we were in it, the soldier and his buddy chased us down the street to give us the photograph. It was pretty nice of them to do that, even though I think that they were more interested in the chance to talk to Carolyn than anything else.
![faded shot of soldier with young girl and older teenager passing]( "Summer Dresses and Feeling My Age: Carolyn and me and a random soldier in downtown Fredericton in 1966") |
| Carolyn and me... and some random soldier. Circa 1966. I think. |
So on our most recent shopping trip we made our purchases and then decamped to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Over our salads, we talked about clothes, and family, and travel, and our respective plans for the next few months. What a great day we had. When I started writing this post, I thought about how many of these shopping days we've had over our lives. From when I was a kid, proud to be tagging along with my beautiful big sister, to now-a-days when we laugh that I am her number one shopping consultant. And so I spent some time this afternoon, digging out that old photo, which I can see in my mind a lot more clearly than in reality, now that it's so faded.
And I thought how funny it is that this week, I'm feeling pretty chill about being sixty-two, when a couple of weeks ago, a chance encounter with an unflattering reflection had me plunging into the depths of despair, at least for a couple of days. But this week, I'm good. Quite content to be sixty-two, a bit more wrinkly, and a bit heavier than ten years ago. Feeling my age, but not in the pejorative sense. Not giving up and giving in, just acknowledging.
Acknowledging my age, and my history, and happy to be just where I am right now. For now, anyway.
How about you folks? Are you feeling your age?
Linking up this week with: Visible Monday, Fake It Till You Make It, #IwillwearwhatIlike, Turning Heads Link-up, Thursday Favourite Things, Fabulous Friday, Fancy Friday, Saturday Share Link-Up.
