The Housecoat through the Ages

The other day it was a beautiful spring day, a bit on the warm side but gorgeous none the less...as I started to dress to head out to mulch the garden...I realized I hadn't done the switch of the cold weather to warm weather clothes in the closet yet.

Egad, a fashion "don't" on the horizon.

But there, on the chair, was the all purpose any season outfit of the modern woman...yoga pants and a t-shirt...doesn't matter if you even do yoga, you got the pants for it girl.

It's an acceptable casual assemble, any-wear outfit...the coffee shop, the supermarket, the soccer game...it's says, "I just came from yoga class, smell my organic affluence".

The bottom line is, it's nothing but this generation's version of the housecoat.

You do remember the housecoat don't you...you must have had a neighbor, or grandma who walked around in one, bare legged, shaggy slippers, smoking a cigarette, cat's eye glasses.

They had snaps for a quick throw in the wash after cleaning the house.

You threw it on over PJ's to answer the door for the meter reader, the mail man, or to let the dog run.

Somewhere in the late 70's, the house coat phased out of our lives and velour robes with big stripes, and a zipper down the middle snuck in there..

Then the advent of denim as fashion burst on the scene and jeans became the uniform of the stay at home mom, straight into the late 80's and 90's

...remember Hope Steadman on Thirty Something? Jeans, t-shirt, flannel shirt, holding the baby in the unfinished kitchen

..and lurking behind all that, in the fashion shadows, was the dreaded sweat pant.

Ugh, I don't care if you had the body of an Olympic athlete, NOBODY looked good in sweat pants...especially the ones with elastic ankles, they made your legs look like hot dog balloons...that's why I always tried to steal scrubs from my friends connected with the hospital...plus it made me look like a med student...smell my potential affluence.

Then the wonderful millennium rolled in, and sweats became the costume of aging mall walkers (especially the matching sets) and yoga popped it's new age head up and became the new fashion clearing house of ladies who lunch (vegan only puh-leese) and Meg Ryan.

Now it has all reached critical mass, and been dumbed down and has become ...the new housecoat.

Which is fine by me, whether I'm actually doing yoga or just bending over in the garden or meeting the Fed Ex person at the door... I need an easy uniform that's washable and

now available at TJ Maxx at great prices.

I'm just wondering what is the next future housecoat, will it come full circle to the original cotton or polyester dress?

By then, I hope I'm old with pale stick legs and wild gray hair smoking an electronic cigarette and wearing cat's eye sunglasses, sitting on the porch with my iPad, yelling at the kids crossing through my yard,

...then it will feel complete.

....

What Budget?

Well, yes, my husband and I have failed to come up with a workable budget.

Contrary to the scare tactics perpetrated by the the non cooking half of this partnership...The Invisi-Gal household will NOT come to a screeching halt...the mortgage will be paid, insurance will be paid, tuition will be paid.

However, Starbucks , The Apple Store and Overstock.com will suffer for at least 3 days until we can come to an agreement.

I will argue that coffee is a necessary tonic for the household to run smoothly and my husband will argue something about hard drives as I put my fingers into my ears and say "Lalalalala".

Manicures and brand new golf balls may become a thing of the past....instead, investment in a locking gas cap will be imminent.

We will remind ourselves, that as children of the 70's, we know a thing or two about Recessions and gas lines and cashing in the loose change from the couch cushions....and that the only ones who really dressed like it was the 70's were confined to members of the The Brady Bunch.

We will long for the entrepreneurial spirit ushered in with the collection of bottles for the two cent deposit and the Archie comic book it bought for only 25 of those cents.

But nothing will stop, life will just meander until it finds the path of least resistance to the end of each day....

...at which time we will watch programs like "Extreme Couponing" with a religious fervor once reserved for "Selling New York".

Once the budget has passed, my husband will declare victory while I motion silently behind him with a big nicely manicured "V", and sip my Starbucks, slowly.

....