Reminiscent and my Style

Nathan made a comment the other day. "Do you not like wearing colour?" I was caught off guard and said that of course I liked colour as I've always though of myself as someone who wears lots of colour!  Definitely not someone who is afraid of colour by any means...but then I got thinking.

I was folding laundry tonight and I noticed the following:
- one black t-shirt
- one blue at-home-only bunny hug
- one yellow shirt
- one deep purple t-shirt

And what I took off after wearing today:
- one brown hoodie
- one deep green t-shirt (don't judge...so I don't always match)

Ok, so this doesn't prove my point very well cause it looks like I have lots of colour in my everyday wardrobe.  My actual point is that I don't really have much colour at all!  And most of the colour I have is dull and rich, not bright and sparkly.  And it got me thinking.  I used to have tons of colour in my wardrobe.  What happened?  I went to dig through my high school photos to find some proof of a much livelier wardrobe from the past.

As I flipped through my high school photo album, I noticed that 98% of the clothing that I was wearing throughout the entire album (spanning 3 years of life) was either:
a) blue
b) white
c) black
d) brown

Huh?  What happened to the rainbow pallet that I was remembering?  There was only one picture in my entire album of me in a red shirt!  ONE!  So alas, I didn't take out any pictures to share with you to prove my point that I used to dress in colour.  (BUT I did snatch a few snapshots to share, just because it's fun!  And boy do they look dated.  And boy do I look young! But you'll have to wait until the end of the post to see 'em!)

Anyway, back to clothes.  It has me thinking.  WHY do I not wear colour?  I don't think I'm afraid of it.  I don't think I look bad in it.  Perhaps I'm so concerned about looking "my age" that I avoid colour in hopes of looking older?  Perhaps I have such a limited wardrobe that I feel like buying a red or purple or orange shirt would be inefficient (because all my clothes have to earn their keep in my closet and if EVERYTHING doesn't match with EVERYTHING else, I probably won't pick it up off the rack). But that said, I'm feeling like those are pretty lame excuses for a boring wardrobe!  I mean, I used to wear the fortrel pants and polyester shirts out of my mom's wardrobe from the 1970's without a second thought.  I had a shirt that was red gingham with pearlized snaps down the front that friends actually used to joke about having a picnic on (oh wait, I still have that one but haven't worn it in years!).  So what changed? 

I guess you can get away with anything in high school and I don't feel like you can get away with quite as much as an adult.  *sigh*  How boring.  My wardrobe used to really express who I was.  I had fun getting dressed in the morning.  I would spend hours before bed in the evening trying on different outfits, trying to find something interesting to wear the next day.  And I enjoyed it!  Now, I put on the easiest thing.  Jeans.  T-shirt.  Zip-up sweatshirt. (And it doesn't even take much thought because everything matches!) 6 out of 7 days, this is what I wear. And most of the time there is very little colour to it.  Browns, blacks, blues, greys.  I have the occasional yellow, orange, purple...but nothing amazing.  Nothing sparkly.  Nothing that says "look at me!  I'm having fun with life!" (sidenote: maybe I don't want people to notice me...hmm...maybe I'll feel too conspicuous if I dress any livelier...hmm...now that is hitting just a little too close to home.  Moving on!)

I think I need to pay more attention the next time I go shopping and intentionally buy some fun, not just functional, clothes.  That is, once I'm shopping for post-maternity clothes.  Or maybe maternity clothes is a good place to start experimenting?  If I hate them, I only have to wear them for the next 5 months...

But anyway, if you've survived my late-night ramblings, you have earned these.  Behold, I share with you a few snippets of my high school photo album.  Enjoy!

Permed hair days...me front and center (well, left-center)

Permed hair AND round glasses :D

Me in my high school soccer days...yes, those are hot peppers on my pants. I wore them through multiple games because it got so cold during soccer season.  And I loved them.  I'm pretty sure my little brother made them in home ec and they were too short for him so he cut them off to my length and gave them to me :D

More high school soccer.  I loved those out of town games...especially the trips to and from them!

Aah, the carefree days of summer.  Well, maybe full of drama is more accurate.  Remember high school drama?  See the hand on the right-hand side pushing the merry-go-round?  That was my high school crush of 2 or 3 years and first boyfriend.  Notice the conveniently placed blur over the face in the top-right corner?  Haha...just wanted to be considerate and protect his identity :D

Me-->M-->my sister, A, at our baptism at a river near my hometown

My first, and only, mugshot.

I'M WEARING RED!!! This is the one picture in my album that I was talking about where I'm wearing red.  I should really wear it more.  I'm smokin' in red...

And last but not least, me and M at our high school graduation.  Aah...that feels like so, so long ago...