Act Your Age!

So, what does that mean to someone who is about to hit the half century mark?

I was told over the weekend that I am acting and dressing too old for my age. Hmmm. Really? Granted, I was told this by a sales associate at the Gap who was trying to sell me “skinny” jeans. She said this to me after I told her that I didn’t think that Gap was making clothing for women my age anymore. This opened a real can of worms!

The sales associate (her name was Charlotte) was a sassy, middle-aged woman of color. (I mean ‘sassy’ in a good way). She looked at me and said, “Girl, just how old are you? I bet I’m older than you and look at me - everything I’m wearing except for my shoes - I bought here!” It turns out that she is 54.  She was a full figured gal, even more so than me, and was wearing black Gap jeans and a nice blouse. She turned me around and looked at my backside (I told you she was sassy!) and went on and on about how I should be wearing more form fitting clothes. When I told her that I will be 50 in a couple of months and was too old and heavy for ‘skinny’ jeans she laughed and told me that I was too young to be dressing in loose-fitting clothes. She went on and on until I tried on some ‘curvy’ jeans and some ‘skinny’ jeans.  She made me laugh, but she also made me think.

I have been acting like a grown up since long before I actually was one. I am the eldest of my siblings and was often left ‘in charge’ of them and the house from the time I was 12 years old – this is something that I took very seriously. I didn’t quite learn to let my hair down in college – I was even an RA (at Ball State the RAs were called Student Staff).  In my work life, I have been working with older adults since 1994. I have never felt more comfortable than I do working with this population. Maybe I am an old soul.

As for my fashion sense, well, I really don’t have any. I have always been fairly conservative with my clothing - pretty much a Plain Jane. It’s hard to get me out of my turtleneck sweaters and scarves – my comfort zone. If I ever do have a midlife crisis, maybe I will take Charlotte’s advice and start wearing some more form fitting clothing. I did tell her that I would go back and see her in April for my birthday and let her help me dress up a bit. But geez, it’s not like I dress in burlap bags or muumuus.

For the record, I did leave the Gap with a bag. Nope, I didn’t buy the jeans – neither curvy nor skinny. I do have a very lovely new scarf, though!