by Wendy Williams

Created on: November 26, 2009   Last Updated: November 27, 2009

Fashion is a very strange beast. At age 57, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I have never dressed to impress or to be sexy. The current mania with looking sexy 24 hours a day is getting VERY old and I have had enough. As a self-employed person, I am fortunate to be able to dress to please myself. I make certain to be quietly dressed, modest, and well-covered. I am well-groomed, wear soft make-up, and feel my best in low-key and protective garments.

The corporate world and I do not get along. My dear old "barn" coat is one of my best friends and to some extent, I buy clothes in larger sizes or even men's clothing for shirts and coats, because I find the intensive intent in women's clothing to be focused on form-fitting, revealing, and looking like I am on the hunt for men (I love boys, just not hunting them at this age). As one who has experience in sewing, I know the dart has a main function of aiming attention at the bust line. That is why I Iove men's shirts, because they are there for comfort and not so much for the chest show!

I guess I make no sense, with all of the lovely women's fashion magazines I have loved and read for years. They seem to get worse and worse every year with the vulgarity of low-cut and skin tight clothes and shoes the past few years that are not only downright dangerous to wear but are some of the ugliest shoes I have ever seen in women's fashion. I certainly understand the lure of high heels, I just walk too fast and take steps that are big and do not want to be hobbled by these crazy shoes. As a big-city girl, I need to be able to walk quickly and feel safe on the streets.

I realize my look of clothing speaks to the fact that I am my own woman, independent, and confident in my ability to survive in a very expensive city (San Francisco). Being an artistic type does bring sacrifices in many realms, but I cannot dress to please employers or structures. I need to be free and I need to make my own way. I have found good and useful clothing (for free!) all over in my travels in San Francisco and see so much waste out there. I am a hunter and I can find natural fabrics by touch. I can appreciate beautiful couture clothing, well-crafted and expensive garments that only the few can afford. They are works of art. For the rest of us mortals, I must say many of us just cannot wrap our hearts around the demands to look a certain contained way. I am the opposite of some rebels, however, in that I am rebelling against vulgarity and too much revealing of skin. I like being modest, and downright invisible. I can make noise without saying a word, if I need to. That is a power that is not only found in clothing, but in what you emanate.

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