Style + the Starbucks Test.

Sometimes I wear weird ass outfits. As my mother would put it, I look a little like a Kindergartener who was allowed to dress herself that morning. (Apparently, this trait is genetic.) I aways know if my outfit is particularly odd if, when I walk into Starbucks, I all of the sudden feel very Weird. Clothing is situational, we all know this; so certain outfits that look au courant while I am running a boutique, can look like a bit of a faux pas while I am in line at Starbucks surrounded by businessmen and soccermoms waiting for my coffee refill. These outfits do not pass what I call (surprisingly!) The Starbucks Test. (And I have been at my boutique long enough to almost always run into someone I know -a client, their husband, their children or a combination of all three - during one of my many daily trips to get a cup o' joe. Oy.)
I was in line at Starbucks this morning, (dressed perfectly appropriate for both boutique-life and the coffeeshop queue) and the middle aged woman behind me caught my eye.  I glanced behind me, and it wasn't the twinkle in her eye that caught my attention; it was the twinkle in her nose. Pushing fifty, the pigtailed woman behind me had a nose piercing. Oh good God. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
I was chatting with one of my younger (she's about 22 or 23) - yet incredibly loyal - customers today, at Starbucks, & she was telling me about some haggard acquaintance of hers, when she said, "I mean, God, she looks thirty!" I looked at her, smiled, and said, "You don't know how old I am, do you?" Eekamouse.
But this got this shopgirl thinking; The spectrum of Style certainly has a sliding scale.
I see these teenagers and young women come into my store, and I hear their mother's coo, Sweetie, I like the tunic on you, it hides your hips. They turn to me, Poor thing, she got my hips. (Or worse, She got my mother-in-law's hips.) On more than one occasion, I have gone into the dressing room without the bitch mom and whispered to the poor girl, Don't listen to her. You have a beautiful body. Why do some mother's insist on making hip-insecurity as genetic as the hips themselves? Teenagers have been in my store, these gamine Laguna beauties with genetics to die for, and they're complaining that they are this or that, and I want to scream, Girl, appreciate your fantastic body now, you'll look back in pictures and wish you had! (Okay, I may or may not have said that out loud before.) Although, the 13 year old girl that stated to her friend in the shop, Oh no, I only wear bootie shorts, terrified me a little. (Where is your mother?! Probably out wearing bootie shorts and foam platform flip flops.... killmenow.) I think that the woman behind me in Starbucks should probably retire her stud. (To a Stud Farm! No? Not funny? Damn.) She, quite ovbiously does not share this opinion. And yes, the asshole in me wanted to to turn to her and say, Oh honey, let it go. Instead, I stared. Same with the woman I see almost every morning in the crop top, Lululemon spandex and (gasp!) heels... Let it go, lady. You're body is banging, but you once told me about your son's Senior Prom. Letitgoooooo. Show it off, you have every right too - but I need not see your entire torso while you wait for your Frapuccino! (Or that line where your ass meets your thighs. Really?!) I also think the preteen bootie short connoisseur should invest in - ahem - some leggings, or pants, or something!anything! without the word bootie in it. Or is it booty? I guess I have two points here; one being, Starbucks has some damn interesting customers. Secondly, style & age are a funny thing.
Starbucks may very well be the perfect example of finding the balance between 'Dressing Your Age' and 'Flaunting What Ya Got' .

Extremely Sexy
... Starbucks says style is somewhere smack dab in the center...
Extremely Sober

I want this car.

I will be honest, as I have gotten older, I have actually started to dress "younger". Well, not younger per se, but less conservatively. I have also become more comfortable (for the most part) with my body, as well as my own personal style. And being the Shopgirl I am, I tend to have a critical eye when looking at what other women are wearing - whether it be at the ole SB, the shop or my studio. I think one of the things I love most about my job is being able to 'big sister' my clients a little; they, for the most part, believe in Shopgirl Authority - so they actually listen. I try not to let them walk out in anything that doesn't look good on them, or that they are not comfortable in. I want them to pass the Starbucks Test too! Most of my clients - and friends for that matter- can tell by my most subtle nose wrinkle or grimace that I am not loving what they have put on. Shit, I have a feeling the woman with the nose piercing could tell too. And I think it is easy to spot someone in public who is obviously & outwardly not comfortable in what they are wearing.
I think it is less about 'dressing your age' (we've come a long way since the blunt shoulder-length haircuts and sweater sets for anyone over the age of 35, thank God) and more about 'flaunting what ya got' - by dressing in what flatters your figure and your proportions all the while reflecting your personality. I put a lot of weight into the importance of looking effortless & uncontrived - whether you're 16, 29 or 43. Or at Starbucks, for that matter.
I just don't ever think butt-creases should be reflective of your personality, yaknowwhatImean?