the-mothball-cardigan
Nella
yaviz
Australian Fashionista
Brenton
Chic Critique
Cibbuano
Cheryl J
LouieMums, muttons and lambs
August 20th 2007 12:31
In my dinner shifts as a bistro waitress, I come across a great deal of good and bad outfit decisions. For content purposes, I will refer only to dinner shifts only, as the lunching crowd are somewhat less inclined to look as they dress.
As part of the bourgeoisie crowd, most women aren’t really pushing my style buttons, but most put in some effort. To begin, there are dress codes before entering the venue, such as no hats, no soiled uniforms, no bare feet and no swimwear. However, the lady out for a night on the suburban town with the girls, ladies, man, kids, family or myriad of families is unlikely to be wearing any of the aforementioned outfits, even in the steamiest of Australian summers. I appreciate this modesty and thought. What I don’t appreciate is the severe decline in any form of style and adherence to rules of taste, cut and colour, and sharp increase in the ‘Mumsy’ look.
The Mumsy look, as exemplified by most middle-aged women on Australian soap operas, is a highly overlooked faux pas: too much bias cut, an over-indulgence in the three quarter length, over-share in high heeled strapless sandles, a penchant for earthy makeup shades and the matching jewellery wardrobe staples. There should be rules invoked: only two items should be worn together at any one time; for every day you wear earthy shades, the following day should be a little braver, sweeter or more natural; wear a three quarter length sleeve OR pants, not in combination; and cover your heels at least three times in a week. Surely, though, the Mumsy look usurps the dreaded “mutton dressed as lamb” variety of stylin’.
I’d agree...until last week, when I reconsidered my previously staunch verdict. From behind, the woman looked 20, sitting with her two Generation X buddies and some middle-aged male. I served her the barramundi, and holy crap, the woman morphed into the other two kids’ Mum. She was wearing an aubergine, grey and black shift dress with Peter Pan collar, a black wool cardigan, black tights (I didn’t see her shoes), and had blonde hair, straight, heavy fringe and out. My first thought was “ugh, mutton as lamb”, but by the time I returned to the kitchen, I reassessed. Firstly, I initially thought she was my age; you can usually tell if someone is dressed younger than their years even with cataracts in both eyes. Secondly, she held the look well; just because wearing clothes cut in patterns from the 50s and 60s is popular with all girls and young women, it doesn’t mean some 45 year old should stop wearing them because her daughter’s friend took over the design. They were good cuts to begin with, and they’re still going strong.
Finally, I reasoned, entering the floor again, a lot of young girls here don’t even wear the clothes well. They dress to match the season, they dress to subscribe to a size and a lot of them just don’t dress well. Dressing to suit your own shape, your own tastes and your own personality are what sets clothes and their accessories off. Who cares if mutton sometimes dresses as lamb. Sometimes lamb shouldn’t even be dressing as lamb.
This article uses a picture under the GNU Free Documentation License from the Wikipedia article, Jackie Woodburne
As part of the bourgeoisie crowd, most women aren’t really pushing my style buttons, but most put in some effort. To begin, there are dress codes before entering the venue, such as no hats, no soiled uniforms, no bare feet and no swimwear. However, the lady out for a night on the suburban town with the girls, ladies, man, kids, family or myriad of families is unlikely to be wearing any of the aforementioned outfits, even in the steamiest of Australian summers. I appreciate this modesty and thought. What I don’t appreciate is the severe decline in any form of style and adherence to rules of taste, cut and colour, and sharp increase in the ‘Mumsy’ look.
The Mumsy look, as exemplified by most middle-aged women on Australian soap operas, is a highly overlooked faux pas: too much bias cut, an over-indulgence in the three quarter length, over-share in high heeled strapless sandles, a penchant for earthy makeup shades and the matching jewellery wardrobe staples. There should be rules invoked: only two items should be worn together at any one time; for every day you wear earthy shades, the following day should be a little braver, sweeter or more natural; wear a three quarter length sleeve OR pants, not in combination; and cover your heels at least three times in a week. Surely, though, the Mumsy look usurps the dreaded “mutton dressed as lamb” variety of stylin’.
The Australian Soap Opera models the Mumsy look
I’d agree...until last week, when I reconsidered my previously staunch verdict. From behind, the woman looked 20, sitting with her two Generation X buddies and some middle-aged male. I served her the barramundi, and holy crap, the woman morphed into the other two kids’ Mum. She was wearing an aubergine, grey and black shift dress with Peter Pan collar, a black wool cardigan, black tights (I didn’t see her shoes), and had blonde hair, straight, heavy fringe and out. My first thought was “ugh, mutton as lamb”, but by the time I returned to the kitchen, I reassessed. Firstly, I initially thought she was my age; you can usually tell if someone is dressed younger than their years even with cataracts in both eyes. Secondly, she held the look well; just because wearing clothes cut in patterns from the 50s and 60s is popular with all girls and young women, it doesn’t mean some 45 year old should stop wearing them because her daughter’s friend took over the design. They were good cuts to begin with, and they’re still going strong.
Finally, I reasoned, entering the floor again, a lot of young girls here don’t even wear the clothes well. They dress to match the season, they dress to subscribe to a size and a lot of them just don’t dress well. Dressing to suit your own shape, your own tastes and your own personality are what sets clothes and their accessories off. Who cares if mutton sometimes dresses as lamb. Sometimes lamb shouldn’t even be dressing as lamb.
This article uses a picture under the GNU Free Documentation License from the Wikipedia article, Jackie Woodburne
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