[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re; The Prince of Lies-Hair-Gender, etc.

[Pam Hugonnet]

I've been reading this thread and having such a good chuckle that I had
to join in.

I am nearly 5'10" and have a *wildly fluctuating weigh range.  Prior to
having children, I weighed between 120 and 130 lbs.  Men often said I
was too skinny. After the birth of my third child, I topped out at 210
lbs.  Talk about big boobs and big bottom; my behind was so big all I
needed was a saddle and I had outgrown the 40 F nursing bras!   There
was simply nothing anywhere that fit.

So with a little willpower and time and the help of Weight Watchers, I
lost a significant amount of weight.   While it didn't solve the too
short arm and leg problem (the curse of the tall), it did solve some of
the other problems.

For those looking for good supportive bras for the larger sized
mammaries:
    May I recommend Wachol bras.  Nordstrom carries them.   Yes, they
are expensive (40 bucks each).  But they are lovely, comfortable and
hard wearing.  I buy two: one to wear and a back up.  Alternate them and
hand wash them and they will last forever.

Tabouli wrote:

> > What say ye? How have your looks affected your life (outside the
> > clothing domain)?

    I have often been at odds with my looks for one reason or another.
As a teenager, my mother's favorite comment was that I'd be pretty if I
would just:  change my hair, wear makeup, wear more feminine clothing.
By college, I had decided to make a change.  There I was constantly
criticized by my friends for being too pretty.  In graduate school and
in my professional career being "pretty" has been a liability; I find
people tend to take me less seriously or to assume that the only thing
on my mind was my hair.   Before I had children, I was working as a
forensic psychologist in a facility for the criminally insane.  Oddly,
because I employed good boundary management, the patients were never a
real problem, but my interactions with staff and supervisors taught me
the true meaning of sexual harassment.   Now, on the downhill slide to
40 and being mostly a stay-at-home mom (I work very part-time doing
custody evaluations in private practice), my looks seem to be much less
of an issue in my interactions with the outside world.  I am who I am; I
wear makeup because it hides some of the ravages of age and stress.  I
wear the clothes I feel comfortable in.  Many of  the at home moms
around here are very competitive in terms of dress and appearances; I
try to stay out of that as much as possible. I like the way I look and
my husband likes the way I look and that is enough for me.  Oddly now,
it is my husband, as he approaches 50 in the next two years, who is
becoming obsessed with his looks.

Cindy wrote:

> > As for me, I'm kinda stuck in a rather sad 1970's hair time warp.
> > Same basic hair style for 20 straight years. (snip) There was the
> > dreaded short hair experiment a few years  back. ::shudder:: Short
> > hair looks so good on . . . actresses and supermodels.

Ah, my one vanity.  You'd not know it now as I sit here with my roots
showing and my hair hanging like a mop in front of my eyes, but I am
very picky about my hair.  I drive an outrageous distance and spend
exorbitant amounts of money on my hairstyle.  I like short hair, but I
find the maintenance to be daunting.  The  husband  hates short hair; so
I've worn a variety of mid-length styles over the past 12 years with the
occasional round of short hair.

The Cat-Lady purred:

> I've worn my hair the same style all my life: hanging down loose: no

> curlers, no braids, no pinning up... when I was a small child, my
> mother kept getting it cut short with "pixie" bangs. As soon I was
> able to wrest control of my hair away from her, I let it grow long
> (but it refuses to grow as long as I want) and No Bangs.

My mother was the opposite; she never let me cut my hair.  I was stuck
with heavy long hair until I turned 18.  My parents gave me money to get
my hair done for the prom and I got a Dorothy Hamill haircut.  I
relished the defiance but regretted the loss of my hair--at least for
the first few weeks.  In the more than 20 years since, its never been
more than shoulder length.

Cindy wrote:

> > the Tankini. It is the Prince of Lies. It is designed to make sure
> > a roll of tummy flab is plainly visible at all times. That is the
> > only purpose of the Tankini, so far as I can tell. Oh, sure,
> > long-waisted people look good in a tankini. But they just don't
> > work for short-waisted people like me. (snip) Do they really not
> > know what looks good on people? Ahem.
>

and The Cat-Lady replied:

>
> I assume that Tankinis, like all these crop-tops that are in style
> this generation, look good on extremely slim girls who work out
> regularly and can show off their magnificently arousing flat bellies.
> The opposite of me! But I would have thought that the tank top part
> would cover more of the belly of a shortwaisted person than of a
> longwaisted person of the same circumference.

Now, I am both short-waisted and have a magnificent case of
Mommy-belly.  (Well, not now because I am six months pregnant, but
that's another story).   Last summer, I bought two tankinis from Lands
End.  They were the most flattering suits I ever wore.  The two piece
look created a torso where I have none and the softer line of the looser
top covered over the bulge of my belly.   The trick with tankinis is not
buying the ultra short cropped model, but the more generously
proportioned one.
Lands End also sell them with varying sizes and structure of bra in the
top for additional support.


Oh, and Amy, it's always mustard on corned beef.  Do otherwise and the
deli-police will take you away  ;)

theverballyandphyiscallyexpansive
drpam


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