Will Wonders Never Cease?

If you live long enough, you'll see it all.

Lots of you know I love me some glossy fashion magazines. They've been a part of my life since I was a little girl (with a decade or so of feminist fervor diluting my devotion just a little and some student and non-student years when I couldn't afford them.) And I have a process for reading them. In the same way some people ritually twist apart the halves of an Oreo cookie, then eat the filling first and chomp the cookie last, I have a similar technique that allows me to really savor magazine contents. I do what is technically called a flip through wherein I rarely stop to read, but just let the visual feast tease the palate. I'll put the magazine aside, and when I next pick it up, the actual reading begins. In that process, I'll sometimes make a note or two on what I've seen for my personal use or inspiration for blog commentary.

I was in a happy flip-through of the July issue of Lucky, when I thought I saw the words "Embrace high waisted: It makes curvy/petite proportions work." ( Imagine the sound of screeching automotive breaks here for effect.)

Surely I misread.

I stopped and flipped back. There it was. In the "Dear Lucky" style advice column by Jean Godfrey-June, she featured an interview with the insightful and delicately beautiful young blogger, Wendy Nguyen ( http://www.wendyslookbook.com/.) Ms. Nguyen addressed the advantageous wearing of flared or pencil skirts and offered the above advice, word for word. I wasn't hallucinating.

Well, I'll be.

All of my life, one of my worst figure flaws challenges has been my short waist. So many years with so many suggestions and artifices to hide my short waist and make my torso look longer! But now, I'm advised as a petite with a surplus of curves to "embrace high waisted!" I can do that!

I do understand that "high waisted" now means what we've all understood as at our natural waist, perhaps at the top of that range, but I'm suddenly IN THE BALL PARK. I'm almost NORMAL!

After a lifetime of fretting about my high waist, I'm actually OKAY. What do ya' know about that?! (Yes, it's important to be proud of one's personal idiosyncrasies, but sometimes, it's just neat to fit in. )

Same afternoon, at JC Pennys: I found a Nicole Miller crop top and pencil skirt that I've longed for but dismissed as unworkable, and they were deeply discounted, on clearance, and sort-of in my size. Both pieces look easily alterable, and I remember another piece of advice from Ms. Nguyen about crop tops and the petite woman; "Where it's cropped is the important thing: It can't be right below your bust, but it also can't end too low. The tops should start a few inches above the smallest part of your waist."

I took home a skirt one size too large, and with two quick seams, nipped in the width and the waist so it fit very high. The pretty design at the hem would have been ruined if I had taken it up from the bottom. The top was my size, but longer than was flattering. So, with one seam, I raised the hem to a more flattering spot as well. Ta-Da!

I think it works well, and with a black cami under, there is no possibility of exposed midriff, keeping it at least closer to age appropriate.

Thank you, Wendy Nguyen.

Soon, we might well be seeing magazine cover headlines advising us to "How to Rock Your Droopy Boobs!" and maybe "Pancake Backside is The Shape for Fall ! "

You laugh, but it could happen. I now know anything is possible.