Today I went shopping for summer clothes...and it bordered on feeling like a chore.

I was so glad that my husband was home from work today (he took me out for a long lunch for my birthday) so that he could watch the kiddo while I went up the road to a local shopping center. There is a larger chain store, a sort of discount yet "upscale" department store that I have never browsed and so I ventured there and was pleased with the selection and the prices. However, I was not pleased with how many of the items looked ON me once I got into the dressing room.

*sigh*

I suppose the good part of this, is that I end up buying only things that truly fit well, are comfortable, and make me feel confident. I have gotten quite fussy over the years in regards to fit and flattery of any given clothing item. As noted, the upside to the challenege of finding anything I like is that it keeps me on budget. The downside is that I find myself washing the same few items I do like over and over again so that I'll have SOMETHING to cover me to leave the house!

Add to my conundrum that I have figure flaws (as does virtually everyone) and I'm short (5'2") so many items are often out of proportion and the amont of tailoring that clothes off-the-rack need gets to be frustrating. I can hem pants (which I do.) I've even put darts into a pair of jeans that gapped in the waist. I have stitched closed some suplice necklines that were too generous in the cleavage department.

But I draw the line at hemming T-shirts. Yeah, tees. I tried this once on some modal tunic tees that were so long on me, they looked like nightgowns. The result was sloppy. Luckily they were inexpensive to begin with, so I didn't mind the "experiment."

So many cute tops that have wonderful "strategic" neck/waistline embellishments or "gimmicks" like knots, pleats, pintucks, etc, so as to camoflage the tummy area...but every single one I tried on today was so LONG. I also found ZERO tank tops with any kind cut that flattered. And can I just say: enough with the cropped cutesty-retro swing jackets already!!!



Suprisingly, I did find some shorts that fit nicely, although, as I was trying them on, the communicated a very important message to me: start using self-tanning lotion STAT!!!!