I didn't stage this.
Pita Jungle healthy restaurant, 4 women friends, hummus with cucumbers for all, none of those wheat-starchy pitas for these gals!
Lori's red hair accentuates her bright eyes, creamy skin & flirty smile, and the hot pink scarf she wears screams "I'M SASSY, CAN YOU TAKE IT?!"
Tarley is sporting her hot pink, skin tight workout pants that accentuate her new 18% body fat frame; headphones around her neck have become her signature look from always coming from the the gym as she prepares for her personal goal of being in a swimsuit competition next year as she celebrates her 40 years on Earth.
Sara's blonde hair and beautiful jawline show off her ad-worthy million-dollar smile, accented by her penetrating blue eyes, while the "windows" of her slitted-shoulder burgundy top allow her soft, pale skin to peek through - subtle, like it was an accident to be sexy.
I'm woman #4 - I know I look good, fall colors, newly done hair, boots to drool over - I can't see me, so I don't really know what else to say. But hey, I'm an attractive, fit-in 4th chick at this table. If I were a man over 25, I'd be actively checking us out. If I were a man under 25, we look like a good litter of cougars.
Two of us are single/no kids, two of us are married with kid(s). The conversation makes it's way to this blog that they haven't yet heard of. "What do YOU want to focus on in 2014, Jennifer?" As I respond, I say the phrase, "Defensive-Dressing-dot-com." Immediately, they ALL know exactly what I'm talking about, although none have them have heard the phrase before today. As is the norm with this amazing, genuine, evolved group of women, they begin to spontaneously share/confess:
Lori wrapped her voluptuous, va-voom self in the traffic-stopping flirty hot pink scarf in defense to the thought that Tarley and her now-perfect ass will look amazing, so Lori's scarf will divert attention from what she perceives to be her less-than-perfect ass. Lori DRIPS sensuality, NOTHING to defend, but well done, nevertheless - it worked!
Tarley laughs and says she wore the pink skin-like pants today instead of darker ones, because she "knew there wouldn't be a lot of people at the gym today," and apparently is defensive about the way the pink ones look versus other choices. But her entire bottom half, with full booty & long legs is ENVIABLE in any color.
Sara tells us about her lamentation process at her closet this morning because she ate her way through Thanksgiving and gained some mass. So she spent quite a bit of time Defensive Dressing before lunch to find what would camouflage her perceived latest issues to defend. Finally, she settled on jeans with the top with cutouts on the shoulders... which Jen (me) had ironically noticed immediately at the table, and thought was very casual sexy and flirty while still totally "daytime wear."
I personally chose something fall, warm, colors that look good on me, making sure the sweater vest hung lower than my butt, with freshened lipstick that sets the whole thing off as an "outfit." I was meeting with these beautiful, successful women and simply wanted to fall in line, looking pretty (although also knowing I could have shown up in sweats with no makeup and they'd be just as delighted to see me).
As these amazingly powerful, sharp, beautiful women shared today's live-action report of Defensive Dressing, we were all LAUGHING at what we did, how we thought, what we assumed. We laughed at ourselves, we laughed at each other, and we laughed WITH each other at the whole nuttiness that not ONE of us was exempt - we ALL literally Dressed Defensively today before leaving the house!
It's hard work. It takes effort, energy, contemplation, strategy. More often that not, it is done from our point of view of what there is to camouflage, to compensate for, hide, distract from... To DEFEND.. ourselves... our selfs... against certain "other" parts of... our selfs... which now that I break it down, seems about as logical as being on an inflatable boat while firing shots at the other end of the boat.
.jpg)
Fortunately, it turns out there's some fun to be had in becoming aware of this Defensive Dressing thing. It's simply our attempt to FEEL BETTER about ourselves in the midst of the inner battle. I don't know that we can (yet) stop it, but in the midst of it, we can embrace it and laugh at it's silliness.
Pita Jungle healthy restaurant, 4 women friends, hummus with cucumbers for all, none of those wheat-starchy pitas for these gals!
Lori's red hair accentuates her bright eyes, creamy skin & flirty smile, and the hot pink scarf she wears screams "I'M SASSY, CAN YOU TAKE IT?!"
Tarley is sporting her hot pink, skin tight workout pants that accentuate her new 18% body fat frame; headphones around her neck have become her signature look from always coming from the the gym as she prepares for her personal goal of being in a swimsuit competition next year as she celebrates her 40 years on Earth.
Sara's blonde hair and beautiful jawline show off her ad-worthy million-dollar smile, accented by her penetrating blue eyes, while the "windows" of her slitted-shoulder burgundy top allow her soft, pale skin to peek through - subtle, like it was an accident to be sexy.
I'm woman #4 - I know I look good, fall colors, newly done hair, boots to drool over - I can't see me, so I don't really know what else to say. But hey, I'm an attractive, fit-in 4th chick at this table. If I were a man over 25, I'd be actively checking us out. If I were a man under 25, we look like a good litter of cougars.
Two of us are single/no kids, two of us are married with kid(s). The conversation makes it's way to this blog that they haven't yet heard of. "What do YOU want to focus on in 2014, Jennifer?" As I respond, I say the phrase, "Defensive-Dressing-dot-com." Immediately, they ALL know exactly what I'm talking about, although none have them have heard the phrase before today. As is the norm with this amazing, genuine, evolved group of women, they begin to spontaneously share/confess:
Lori wrapped her voluptuous, va-voom self in the traffic-stopping flirty hot pink scarf in defense to the thought that Tarley and her now-perfect ass will look amazing, so Lori's scarf will divert attention from what she perceives to be her less-than-perfect ass. Lori DRIPS sensuality, NOTHING to defend, but well done, nevertheless - it worked!
Tarley laughs and says she wore the pink skin-like pants today instead of darker ones, because she "knew there wouldn't be a lot of people at the gym today," and apparently is defensive about the way the pink ones look versus other choices. But her entire bottom half, with full booty & long legs is ENVIABLE in any color.
Sara tells us about her lamentation process at her closet this morning because she ate her way through Thanksgiving and gained some mass. So she spent quite a bit of time Defensive Dressing before lunch to find what would camouflage her perceived latest issues to defend. Finally, she settled on jeans with the top with cutouts on the shoulders... which Jen (me) had ironically noticed immediately at the table, and thought was very casual sexy and flirty while still totally "daytime wear."
I personally chose something fall, warm, colors that look good on me, making sure the sweater vest hung lower than my butt, with freshened lipstick that sets the whole thing off as an "outfit." I was meeting with these beautiful, successful women and simply wanted to fall in line, looking pretty (although also knowing I could have shown up in sweats with no makeup and they'd be just as delighted to see me).
As these amazingly powerful, sharp, beautiful women shared today's live-action report of Defensive Dressing, we were all LAUGHING at what we did, how we thought, what we assumed. We laughed at ourselves, we laughed at each other, and we laughed WITH each other at the whole nuttiness that not ONE of us was exempt - we ALL literally Dressed Defensively today before leaving the house!
It's hard work. It takes effort, energy, contemplation, strategy. More often that not, it is done from our point of view of what there is to camouflage, to compensate for, hide, distract from... To DEFEND.. ourselves... our selfs... against certain "other" parts of... our selfs... which now that I break it down, seems about as logical as being on an inflatable boat while firing shots at the other end of the boat.
.jpg)
Fortunately, it turns out there's some fun to be had in becoming aware of this Defensive Dressing thing. It's simply our attempt to FEEL BETTER about ourselves in the midst of the inner battle. I don't know that we can (yet) stop it, but in the midst of it, we can embrace it and laugh at it's silliness.
