Hi everybody, I'm Barbara. I'm 46, married 16 years, and I'm a homeschooling SAHM with two sons, ages 8 and 12-nearly-13. I was born in California and spent my childhood through early 20s in the Seattle area, but left for grad school (meteorology) nearly 20 years ago and, after that, multiple cross-country moves. We finally settled down in Oklahoma almost 10 years ago. I love to learn, read, knit, garden, play the piano, bake, cook, spend time outdoors, get together with friends, and enjoy my husband and sons. My college years in Seattle made me a coffee lover, but it's decaf for the most part now. I am a natural organizer in many ways, active in my church and my MOMS Club, and I spend a lot of time on the Web!
I'm 5'5", an hourglass shape, with more definition (39-29-41) than I ever realized; a size 10 on top and a 10 or sometimes 12 or 8 on the bottom. I'm learning to make peace with my mommy bump that is more subtle after losing 15 pounds this year! I have short, dark brown hair with lots of gray, olive skin that tans easily, and blue-gray eyes, I wear glasses, and I tend to prefer "winter" colors.
I wear skirts and dresses all the time, and am not particularly interested in pants or shorts. I dress a little nicer than many of my mom friends, perhaps on the casual edge of smart casual to include going to the park with the kids, baking & cooking with an apron, church meetings, coffee with friends, etc. I have a classic, feminine style with fun accents, my neutral colors are midnight blue, black, and white/ecru, I'm not afraid of color, and I wear jewelry and light makeup daily. We have four seasons here in Oklahoma, with quite hot summers but also somewhat cold winters (sometimes icy or snowy, sometimes wet and blustery).
Honestly, I'm in the midst of big changes in my personal look, due to recent body changes and body image changes. Way back in my 20s I enjoyed style and fashion, but I had no sense of direction or personal style. In my mid-30s, with my pregnancy weight gain that stuck, new-mom stresses, and a long financial crunch, I started wearing whatever seemed okay... mostly unflattering, oversized, secondhand clothes. Thanks to unhappiness with my body and how jeans looked/fit, I switched to wearing only skirts and dresses, which, actually, I really like.
Over the last year, my body image and clothes choices have changed dramatically, for the better. A year ago I started walking for fitness and gained energy & good posture; last spring I focused on what I was eating and began to lose weight; and over the summer I discovered that slim, trim clothes actually were quite flattering. What a confidence boost! I also researched bra fitting, measured myself, and bought some new bras, woohoo!
Over the summer I purged my summer clothes and began to shop for clothes that actually fit -- at thrift stores and clearance racks because I'm not sure my body is done changing. As summer turned to fall and all of my cool-weather clothes felt huge and unflattering, I discovered knee-length skirts (rather than calf- or ankle-length!), multiple light layers, and waist definition. Goodbye too-big, hello body.
I found YLF about six weeks ago and love it! In fact, right now pretty much my entire outfit is due to YLF inspiration. Today, on our Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I'm wearing a green heathered v-neck "henley" long-sleeved knit top (Target) with the top button unbuttoned that shows a bit of an ecru cami (Target), a slim a-line ecru twill knee-length skirt (thrifted Christopher & Banks), brown tights (Target), and black knee-high boots with a 1-inch heel (Dockers via Kohls sale). I could improve it -- I'm in need of a couple of skirts in navy, charcoal, or chocolate brown, and pale mini-fishnets -- but this will do. When I go out shortly, I'll add a pale blue pashmina-style scarf (thrifted).
Thank you so much, Angie, YLF, and the YLF community, for the blog posts and forum posts that are helping me see myself and my clothes with new eyes.
