Sizing Things Up

A few days ago I received a clothing catalog in the mail (real mail, not email).

This catalog was a plus size clothing catalog. Sizes 10-28. Are you kidding me?

Since when did size 10 become a plus size? At the moment I wear a plus size 14/16. I would like to get down to a size 8 or 10 but come on. It’s extremely discouraging to learn that size 10 now joins the world of plus sizes. In the August issue of  People Style Watch they say that the average American woman wears a size 8. Really?? Someone needs to re-adjust their thinking cap.

Many designers are getting on the bandwagon and creating clothes for us larger women. This is a good thing. Not so long ago Rubenesque ladies had no choice but to wear tent like structures. Remember Mama Cass Elliot?  Today, we have a choice of designers and ready to wear, off the rack options. Clothes that actually fit the curves.

On the flip side…what used to be a size 10 is no longer really a size 10. More like a 6 or 8. When I was in my 20’s, there was no such thing as size 0. Or 00. What’s up with that??

There were misses, juniors and petites. Plus sizes did not exist. If you needed a really large size you went to a specialty store that charged you a fortune and embarrassed the crap out of you when you walked in the door.

These days the plus department is big business. After all, if McDonald’s can plus size their portions then clothing can go along with it. For me, getting out of the plus department is an exciting event. Unfortunately if 10 is a new plus size, I may stay in this department for a long time. I need to do more research on this. After all it’s just one catalog.

The number on the tag shouldn’t matter as much as how the clothes fit. But sometimes it’s hard to know which direction to go in. Larger or smaller?

In the meantime, I’ll stick with the clothes I have. For now. In a few months I’ll be ready to hit the racks.

Oh, as of this posting I’m down 64 pounds (29 kg.).

Have a great week. See you next Monday!

Keeping It Real

Last week I read an article about a 14 year old girl who wrote to Seventeen Magazine and asked for the models to be “real” girls. In this day and age it’s sometimes difficult to recognize what’s real and what’s not.

Take a photo for instance. Any photo can be tweaked. Want your teeth whiter? Want to be 10 pounds or maybe 20 pounds thinner? No problem. We can just photoshop the pounds away. Easier than liposuction. No pain. Want to erase the old boyfriend from that stunning photo of the two of you in Mexico? Easy.

Flipping through the pages of fashion mags gets me to wondering. There is NO way these women have completely flawless skin, zero tan lines, no wrinkles in sight and perfect teeth. I decided to do a little detective work and asked my expert photographer husband (yes, that’s his job) to show me how extreme beauty is created on a less than perfect subject. Voila. And not only does it work on people pics, but I applied this knowledge to other subjects as well. Make the sky bluer. Make the entire pic vintage looking. What you see is not what you get.

Want real? Sit at an outdoor café and watch people. Study people. The young man over there with a cigarette and a coffee checking his cell phone every five seconds. The woman walking past pushing a stroller with a crying toddler strapped in it. This is real.

Listening to live music is real. Or is it? In large stadium venues many pop singers are syncing it to a track. It’s almost expected. Who can sing live with all that running around? I’d be screaming oxygen.

The best places to hear live sound are in small intimate venues. OK…I am a bit biased. I really love performing in small intimate venues where I can make eye contact with the cute guy nursing his beer. That’s keeping it real. My band behind me is as real as it gets.

And what about recordings? Is it live or is it Memorex? Some of you may remember that ad. Used to be you’d stand in front of the mics and record. You screw up, you do it again. Nowadays it’s all about the mixing. I’ll admit I love that process. But even for those “singers” who can’t quite carry a tune, a little tweaking and look at that…a new pop singer is born. That to me is major scary. I’ll bet if you asked a few of those one hit wonder pop stars to sing something live they would run screaming.

Go find real. Go to a little club and listen to an outstanding jazz band. Or a rock band. Or a folk artist. Acoustic. Go to a museum and look at art. Real art created by hand and not by a computer. Sit somewhere and have a coffee and watch the world stroll by.

Keep it real people and have a great week!!

Retail 24/7

When I was a kid (actually I still am at heart) stores were closed on Sundays. Mostly everything was closed on Sundays. Restaurants were open. Bakeries were open. The bagel place was open. But supermarkets were closed. Sunday was family time.

Of course, being Jewish, we went to Hebrew school on Sunday mornings. Only for a few hours. After that, the day was open. Sometimes we drove into the city to visit my grandparents. Sundays were for reading the papers. Sprawled on the floor with the funny pages. My parents lingering over second cups of coffee.

Then the laws changed and stores started opening on Sundays. Malls became the place to be on a Sunday (Saturday too). It was so exciting to be able to shop on a Sunday. The stores closed on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day etc.

Then the laws changed again and stores started to open on holidays as well. Retail extravaganza. Holiday specials. Sales galore. As I grew up and joined the work force I was thrilled that I could shop on a holiday when I wasn’t actually working. Shopping on a Sunday after a Saturday evening gig was amazing to me. Sleep in, have coffee in LARGE cups and then go shopping. I love to shop. And contrary to what my mother says, I don’t ALWAYS buy something each time I go into a store. Just sometimes. OK, a lot of the time. But not ALWAYS!

So now, I work in retail. There are no weekends. And being in the airport there are no holidays. We are open 365 days a year. 5 AM to when the last flight boards. Yes, we are open on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Yom Kippur and all the other days as well. I can’t complain. I really like my schedule and although I work on the weekends, I have two other days off together. MY weekend. Better actually. I can make appointments.

Still, I miss the days when stores actually closed for a day each week. A little time off. An extra cup of coffee and the funny pages. Or these days, the crossword puzzle.

 Whatever happened to Sunday?

 Have a great week…this is day one of MY weekend!

Color Me Summer

We all know that wearing black makes you look slimmer, trimmer and somewhat elegant. Black is great. I have a lot of black in my closet. Shirts, pants, shoes, boots, bags. A lot of black.

This summer I’ve decided it’s time to shake it up a bit. My keyboard player Sammy reminded me that summer is for color. I agree. Bright, bold, beautiful color. The man has purple pants (only in Italy…can’t imagine a Boston man wearing purple pants unless he’s in a rock band). And so, last week I purchased a pair of orange cropped pants. Kind of coral like orange. It was on a whim and I am very happy I did it. So happy that two days later I purchased the same pair in a fuchsia purplish shade.

Not stopping there, I found a lime green beaded necklace which looks GREAT with a black top. I’m not giving up my black just because it’s summer. But adding color to it makes it oh so summer. And of course I have a bold orange/tan cross body bag.

Last winter, while I was in Trieste, I did some shopping as always. I noticed the intense color forecast for spring. Bright yellows, blues, greens and oranges. It was ALL about orange. Shoes, bags and clothing. Nail polish and lipsticks and glosses. Back in the USA we were still in winter blacks, beiges and greys. Sliding into spring and summer I saw in Boston what Italy predicted last winter. It was amazing. Color everywhere. I’m not a slave to fashion but hey…color is awesome.

Color makes us smile. Color brightens up a hazy, humid day. Color reminds us that we are alive. I have purple flowers growing in my front yard. My favorite color.

Black isn’t going anywhere but it’s kind of taking a little nap in my closet. Autumn will be here soon enough. That’s fine. I’m still planning on wearing my new lime green beaded necklace right into winter!

Add a little color! See you next week.

The Elusive Search For the Fountain of Youth

So how exactly DO we stay young and healthy?? Look at any fashion magazine. Look at any weekly magazine. Look on the bookshelves. We are bombarded with how to and how not to. What to do and what not to do. Let me break it down for you in Ellen’s 10 Easy Fountain of Youth Steps:

• Diet and Exercise. OK, we all know that sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do. You wanna be healthy? Just do it. You don’t NEED to necessarily be on a diet. Just think about what you are consuming. Michael Pollan’s Food Rules is a handy little book. One page chapters. Things like, look at the ingredients. If a third grader can’t pronounce the ingredients opt for something healthier (sorry Cathy, sorry Juan). As for exercise, yes, it’s necessary. But you don’t need to join a gym. Put on those sneakers and hit the pavement. 

 

• Drink water. Not soda. Not juice. Not martinis. Drink water. Makes your skin look great. Drink lots. OK…I KNOW it has side effects. So take out stock in toilet paper. What can I say? It’s so good for you. And an added bonus is that it is a great weight loss aid. ‘Nuff said.

• SPF. In other words, if you’re going to be worshipping the sun, for goodness sake, slather on sunscreen. I wear a moisturizer with a fairly high SPF (50) 365 days a year. Even on overcast days those UV rays have a nasty habit of peeking through. Sun is nice. A light golden tan makes you look healthy. Sun causes skin damage and cancer. Wanna look like old shoe leather? Bake in the sun for 10 summers with no sunscreen.

• Smoke free zone. Don’t smoke. Period. Don’t smoke.

• Moisturize. Not just in the daytime with an SPF. Before going to bed as well. Your skin loses moisture as you sleep. After bathing or showering moisturize while your skin is still damp. Not just your face. After that morning shower slather on a great smelling body lotion. And don’t forget to wash and moisturize your face before you go to sleep.

• Zzzzz’z. It’s not always easy is our crazy, hectic, work filled week. But try. This is the hardest rule of mine to follow. I know that there are days when I can barely get 6 hours due to late gigs and early work days. I feel cranky and old and terrible the next day. Sleep is a wonderful thing.

• Less is more. As women age, we need less in the way of cosmetics. Time to toss the thick foundation. Lose the blue eye shadow. If you plan on being a drag queen, then fine. Do what you want. Your face is the first thing people see when they look at you. Unless you’re in Italy. We can talk about that another time. Mascara, a little blush, a lipstick or gloss. Great for daytime. Save the liner for evenings out. You want to use a bit of cover up? Go right ahead, but don’t slab it on so thick that it looks like cake frosting.

• 50 shades of grey should not be on your head. If you’re going to go all grey then do it. Don’t have long strands of grey or grey roots. It makes you look old and tired. Don’t want to spend hours at a salon for a touch up? Root touch up is available in stores everywhere. And there are coupons too.

• Join a gang. No…not really. Hang out with people younger than you. They give out amazing energy. Hang out with people older than you. You give them energy which makes them AND you feel good. Good, good, good, good vibrations…

• And finally. Read, read, read. Enrich your mind. It keeps you young. It keeps your brain working. It doesn’t matter what you read. Just read. READ.

And those are my rules. I try to do these rules 24/7 but as always, sometimes rules will be broken. Except washing my face before bedtime. That’s sacred.

And by the way…these aren’t my rules alone. I just like to makes lists and try to accomplish every item. Hey…I’m really 105 years old! Don’t I look great for my age???

See you on Monday…new blog post day.