Older Women in Shorts as Embracing our Legs
The idea of seeing older women in shorts goes against one of those fashion rules like we talked about two weeks ago. I can see how anyone might come up with the thought that “she’s trying to dress too young.” But let me counteract that concept below.
Quote of the day: “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.” Hugh Downs
The quote is something you’ve probably read before. It is that belief that our perspective makes all the difference. AND that holds true for style also. A confident person isn’t one because her body is perfect. Why? Because we all know that the perfect body doesn’t exist. In fact, if you’ve even talked to a model, they have just as many insecurities about their bodies.
However, we can embrace our bodies as is and the fact that we love them, makes us look and feel better.
I realize that this idea doesn’t mean we have to go around baring our bodies inappropriately (whatever that means to each and every one of us). However, considering I am living in the desert now, I am incredibly glad that I started embracing my pale legs years ago. While they aren’t the airbrushed legs you will see in magazines, they have served me well.
The idea behind this week’s post was a suggestion from Mildred who wants us to “Love our legs”. Lesley not only showcased her legs in a skort, but also talked about gratitude. And Charlotte shared her thoughts when she wore capris.
I have also included some tips if you want to consider shorts below.
Older Women in Shorts
Shorts: Old Navy~~ Top: Banana Republic~~ Shoes: Charles & Keith~~ Scarf (in hair): ~~ Necklace: Coruu c/o~~ Purse: thrifted
Truthfully I didn’t have many shorts until I started blogging. When I was working, I thought it might be considered inappropriate seeing older women in shorts. Let’s just say, I’m glad I’m over that.
I was so impressed when I saw Lesley wearing shorts here in Arizona, that I jumped on the bandwagon too. These shorts are a by product of that. They were on sale at the end of last summer’s season for a steal. AND the fact they are linen is a plus.
An Interesting Color Combination
For some reason I am seeing lime green more and more lately. This top was one of the deals I showcased in my email 2 months ago, and I couldn’t pass it up. While we have shown color combinations with lime green in the past, I hadn’t tried it with this caramel brown before.
Since the shoes also had black in them, I incorporated more black with my belt and necklace. The scarf in my hair is actually navy and lime green and is one of my husband’s pocket squares.
Insider tip: For any scarf in my hair, I use at least two bobby pins. One on each side next to my ears. Sometimes I will also add them in the back. This pocket square is smaller than most of my scarves, so I had to use the bobby pins in the back too.
Matchy Matchy
Lesley commented that this is the most matchy matchy she’s ever seen me. See? It’s good to try all different kinds of styles when we get dressed. Even I get stuck in habits, and it’s good to push myself to try other options.
I do love the back view of this top. Our backs still look great, so why not show them off?
Insider tip: A bright colored purse can prove to be very valuable to add a pop of color to summer outfits. Other options include yellow, bright pink or even green.
My History with my Legs
I’ve always loved my legs for their shape. As a former gymnast, I always had those large calf muscles, that my mom thought looked like a boy’s calf muscle. Sure, maybe they weren’t the slim and trim legs that models had, but that’s how I could flip around in the air.
Growing up, there was so much emphasis on being tan. I remember the Bain de Soleil ads the most. And trust me, I tried to get tan like that. The problem is my skin doesn’t have melanin in it. So I would burn, peel and then even my “tan” was red.
I did try the sunless tanning for many years, but then my concern came about the chemicals in our products. Which is why I have embraced my pale legs and even wrote a blog post about it.
Inspiration
I truly think much of our inspiration comes when we see women wearing something we like, yet we never thought we could. Which is why I embrace social media. While many people think there is too much comparisons on social media platforms, I always like to point out, that you are in control. You can follow or unfollow who you want, and can stop looking at it too. That’s another category I’ve spoken about on the blog before.
Of course both Lesley and my mom inspire me especially as we have all grown and evolved through this journey. One of my biggest girl crushes is Helen Mirren. Have you ever heard her interview from when she was young? She has gumption, that’s for sure. SO when I saw her in Red, I fell in love.
My other inspirations come on Instagram when I see other older women embracing their grey hair, wearing shorts and even two piece swim suits (gasp, I know).
Tips for Older Women in Shorts
Of course you only want to wear what you are comfortable in for any piece of clothing. Yet I feel like we have these inner expectations and worries that are unwarranted too. So here’s my thoughts:
1-Try out different length of inseams. To say that older women can only wear this inseam or that inseam is silly. We are all built so differently, so you need to experiment.
Insider tip: If you are experimenting, and just aren’t sure which length is good, try finding options at the second hand store first. That way you haven’t thrown away a lot of money if you don’t like a style.
2– When you are trying them on, make sure to sit and move around. A tight leg opening may not be evident until you are moving and grooving in them.
3– You can DIY shorts too. My friend, Paula, just cut off a pair of jeans to make them jean shorts. Or I have taken out a seam and lengthened a pair before (you saw those here where originally they were this length. Not a ton of difference, but they just feel better to me).
4-Look for shorts that have a pull up waistband (like many leggings) so you don’t have the extra bulk from a button and zipper.
5-If you are still concerned about how your legs look, try to put the focus elsewhere. A fun print top, statement necklace or longer earrings will have people look at those things instead of your legs. (PS. That’s my recipe almost daily to take the focus off my hair).
6-Last but not least, think about the proportions with ANY outfit. The biggest factor is you usually want to have one half longer than the other. You can see how my top half is about 2/3 of the outfit, while the shorts are 1/3.
Polka Dot Shoes
I recently bought these shoes after I saw them in my affiliate links and couldn’t get them out of my mind. The polka dots and the bow just caught my fancy. And it didn’t hurt that they were on sale. You can see how they were originally in my monthly highlight post.
Yet as it sometimes happens, the slingback strap would not stay up. I tried to analyze why and it seemed like it was too low. I tried to add longer elastic but that didn’t help. So I cut off the slingback portion. The bows help keep the shoes in place, and so now they are mules.
Insider tip: While shoes can’t usually be altered like clothing can, there are some DIY’s that can help. For example, my idea of switching out the ankle strap buckle. Or did you know, some heels can be reduced by a cobbler?
Photo credit: Rob Filogomo
Thank you
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