Fashion No-Man Land

I’m speaking at BYU’s Symposium For Young Readers on July 12 & 13. It’s going to be a great conference with impressive people like Gary Paulsen (who has so many Newbery medals that he probably uses them to decorate the Christmas tree). Anyway, I asked my contact there what I should wear and she told me business casual.

Hmmmm.

My wardrobe mostly consists of things that could pass as pajamas. Writers are all about comfort. I also have a lot of jeans, which probably is more casual than most businesses allow.

So I went out shopping trying to find something that would make me look like a professional. A lot of women my age are professionals so it shouldn’t have been hard, right? If there were sound on this blog you would hear me sighing now.

Note to fashion designers. Women my age don’t want to show our bra straps. Yes, I know it’s all the rage for the younger generation but I’m afraid women in my generation will never feel comfortable showing our underwear publicly. We can’t turn things that mortified us in junior high into fashion statements.

Also those large flowery prints, the ones that were big in the sixties and seventies–I still remember my mother wearing that kind of thing. How can I wear something I saw my mother wear and not feel old?

Isn’t that the whole point of having fashion change–so you never have to wear the styles your parents wore?

Anyway, I didn’t find much. Today as I packed I just threw a bunch of clothes into a suitcase and I’m hoping they’ll look professional when I pull them out. Or maybe I can find something in the airport shops.