Hey, a girl still has to get dressed, right? Besides, retail therapy is practically a required prescription under certain circumstances. To say I’m entitled is putting it a bit mildly.
It’s not like I haven’t shopped since my cancer diagnosis of course…in fact I even had to buy a few essential things right in the midst of chemo because I gained 22 lbs and nothing fit. But that’s definitely not the same thing as wanting to shop for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Actually, even without weight fluctuations everything has fit differently since the surgery last summer. One year later and my body is still a little new to me, I'm still experimenting, finding out what works and what doesn't.
On the downside my reconstructed breast is about a full cup size larger than its mate, which now requires extra padding. However, on the much brighter side, I no longer have quite my former girth ‘round the middle which makes a big impact in how clothes look on me. As some may recall, thanks to a 130 lb weight loss and two c-section babies, I had been living with (and de-emphasizing) quite the substantial pannus. That's all gone now, somewhat miraculously put to good use via my reconstruction.
(Okay, I'll just say it again, really, who knew that could ever have come in handy for anything???)
Meanwhile I’ve slowly managed to lose about 15 of those 22 chemo pounds so far and while most of my old clothes do now fit me once again, somehow they aren’t all as flattering on this new shape.
Anyway, all this is leading up to the fact that I hit the mall and hit it hard, lol. Got myself a couple pencil skirts, tried to find new jeans (unsuccessfully) and found several simple but versatile tops – plus a really nice Jones New York basic black dress at Lord & Taylor on sale for only $48!
Most importantly – it was fun!
Admittedly I was apprehensive at first….afraid my focus would be on all the body issues created by cancer & reconstruction. But you know what? With each piece I tried on for every new concern there was an old one that didn’t seem quite so prominent anymore. Point being that no matter what body you are in, no matter what’s happened to it, you can learn to work with it and enhance all the remaining positives. And believe you me, if I’ve learned one thing in my life it is that there are always positives.
Life, and apparently shopping, goes on :)
9 comments:
Cheering! Ya new clothes! Pencil skirt? That's hot.
-hammy
Shopping can cure most anything. :) I'm so happy you got out and spent some time on yourself! I hope you might model some new outfits for us??
To me, shopping is a necessary evil. Too often I leave defeated, depleated, and with nothing to show for my harrowing trip. But on those rare occasions where I find some FABULOUS things that Fit, Function and Flatter... ahhh, nothing beats the rush!! Glad you had a good trip. ;)
Glad you enjoyed the shopping. Whether we like it or not our bodies continue to change shape over our lives and we have to keep reassessing what works for us now, not 5 10 or 20 years ago.
Lovely to see you posting about clothes again :-)
Do we get a peek? :-). I'm liking the thought of pencil skirts - but not found one yet!
Happy Belated Birthday! Congrats on the shopping spree!
Kayleigh, it is so good to hear you post about something other than cancer. Not because I didn't read every bit of the cancer stuff, and cry and laugh and sigh at every turn right along with you. But because there is so much more to you than cancer! And it makes me smile to see you remembering that and sounding more like the pragmatic yet bubbly lady we all fell in love with reading about years ago!! Cheers to that!!
You are an inspiration to all!
Best, Linda
Linda is right, you are one of the biggest inspirations for me on the whole internet! I can't wait to see what you got! Soooooo glad to see you back!! :o)
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