You've Come A Long Way, Baby.

I am a woman who can count the pairs of shoes she owns on one hand. I know. I'm a freak of nature. I go against everything that being a girlie-girl stands for -- oh wait, I'm not a girlie-girl. I'm not exactly a tom-boy either. For the most part, that is.




I went through the phase of short black skirts, low cut silk shirts, high heels, sheer nylons and bold lipstick. Then I got smart. I still remember the day I decided I wasn't going to try to conform to someone else's standards of what I should look like. What finally did me in were the nylons. I hated struggling to squeeze my body into something that cut off my circulation just to meet a standard someone else set. I asked myself why I am doing this. Who came up with the idea that waist-cutting nylons that tore so fricking easy were the standard of beauty for a woman? Not a woman, for damn sure.

Of course, once I stopped wearing nylons I had to stop wearing dresses. There's no way I could wear a dress or skirt without nylons. I'm so flipping pale I swear I glow in the dark.

In Texas, the gals here do it all the time. I've never been to a place where more women wear really nice dresses (I'm not talking sundresses) and no nylons. Of course, most of them have nice tans or naturally look great with naked legs.

And don't get me started on high heels. Now, it could be argued that I haven't been a fan of high heels because I happen to have wide feet which I inherited from my mama. My feet never really stood delicately in high heels. My feet always hurt because I could never find shoes wide enough that were feminine enough. It's as if shoe manufacturers didn't believe women actually had feet wider than a B width.

Just like they think all women should be a size zero and that a size six is considered fat. Forget those of us who are size 14 and up. We are lost causes. I was a size 12 from high school up until I a few years after I had my second son, and for many I was considered fat. Give me a break.



In the last 15 years I've also minimized the amount of makeup I wear. Again, I got tired of jumping through the hoops. Good make up is expensive and I always felt like such a fake person when I put it on. I'm now more into the natural style of makeup. And it's refreshing and actually quite liberating.

Now, just because I don't do the whole girlie-girl thing, and have a closet full of shoes, dresses and makeup doesn't mean I can't be sexy anymore. I can when I want--and when I need.

Man, I have so hit middle age.