A new perspective on freedom!

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Tonight I went out with some friends for dinner. I made an observation about my transition to retirement life. Something that was totally unforeseen.

When I was a child, we all wore wool coats in the winter. They were usually charcoal or navy. There were no colors. They were very heavy and you wore them with a plaid wool scarf and black boots or maybe heavy leggings if the weather was bad. For school I wore a navy blue jumper uniform with a white blouse every single day.

In high school, I got to wear regular clothes but the colors were muted and neutral so they “went” with everything. Tartan plaids were big with solid color sweaters — nothing too outrageous. Oh yes, we didn’t wear pants when I went to school!

After that I worked in the corporate world. To get ahead you dressed professionally. I wore neutral toned suits or dresses or pants. Navy blue was one of my big colors but black and the cream-to-taupe neutrals were big in my closet. Once in a while I would buy something outside of the box — maybe some crazy colorful palazzo pants, but I would feel uncomfortable wearing them. For me, they didn’t feel appropriate especially when I was the evil Human Resources person.

I have two granddaughters who are 6 (twins!). They wear the most wonderful clothes. Their coats are lightweight and colorful. They love hot pink and purple and they wear those colors a lot. Sometimes there are cartoon characters on the clothes or maybe sparkles or some bling. Sometimes things clash but who really cares. It’s all fun. Charcoal, navy and neutrals aren’t part of their wardrobe at all. I always envied that freedom.

Since I have retired, I no longer wear neutrals. I do have khaki pants or crops or whatever but it’s been a while since I wore black or brown or navy pants. Mostly I wear jeans or something colorful.

Today when I went out for dinner I wore purple capris with a hot pink Hello Kitty t-shirt. I completed the ensemble with a purple healthy-back purse. It was an outfit my grandkids would wear (except for the purse) and I am sure they would have been very proud of me.

I never thought that freedom from neutrals would be so much fun. I need to amend my death list instructions to include wearing my Hello Kitty t-shirt in my casket. Now that would be really cool but there is plenty of time before I need to do that!

24 thoughts on “A new perspective on freedom!”

  1. Love it! I also like wearing bright colours, and I choose the colours according to how they make me feel. Although I used to worry about colour combinations, I no longer care if any of the colours clash. Well, not unless it’s a realllllly formal event. 🙂

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  5. You definitely jumped out of the box when you retired! Did your friends take notice of your colorful attire? I would imagine you’d get lots of positive attention from a giant Hello Kitty! Good for you…you’re in it to have fun! 🙂 Debra

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  6. That is freedom. In Australia we wore a uniform to school, usually something green or blue, and it always looks dreadful on everyone. Escaping from this institutional system just a little I would were a pink vest and always get in trouble for it. Me, the rebel! I love bright and it looks wonderful on you.

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  7. I like color and prints. I wear mostly black or dark pant but bright colorful tops, often prints. Love your pink and purple. And I like long flow-y skirts, sort of Boho. Guess I never left the sixties. I never liked tie dye though.
    I think comfort is #1 in fashion, or should be.

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  8. We always wore neutrals because they were practical and cheap – it was an economy thing….and people would remember a bright outfit (and whisper she wore that last week) Neutral outfits sneak by and are invisible..”Neutral lets people notice the person and not the outfit” it was said.
    But spring and summer all the brights came out. And after the mod explosion in the 60’s clothes went wild….except maybe for work (when you’d rather spend money on clothes for fun and not office. So neutral worked the offices)
    Bright colors forever!

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