Something has to change

[Ta-An]

Ta-An, you offered up a makeover... here ya go.

Firstly V, you have beautiful hair!!!! Yet..... I tend to agree with moonglow..... I'll put a scissor to that, unless you are growing your hair for religious reasons.... ??

I'll do a shoulder length with thin out to the top, so that you can still do a tie-up hair style and have a long-hair look when you need that.
The natural curls are a bonus!! I'll cut a bit of a fringe and blow-dry the hair to get a bit more height on top of your head....

A cut very much like moonglow suggested...

What I realized the other day because of this thread is that I put on the same types of clothes, pull my hair up on top of my head, slip my feet into my comfortable shoes, brush my teeth, wash my face and go.

Some days, that is fine, but when you constantly feel 'down' then do something different...

My daughter's philosophy regarding hair is this : A new style every day.... so she has several different styles she plays with, and every day the hair looks different

For what it's worth, today is a bad day - I have had less that 5 hours sleep a night for over a week, I haven't eaten a regular intervals and there is NO make up on that sad face.

Let me know your thoughts, ladies. How do I start feeling better about me and looking a tad bit more professional to boot?

1. Water: Drink your 8 glasses of water a day
2. Sleep: you need your 8 H a night
3. Make-up: you don't need that every day.... some days a bit of mascara and a lipstick is enough...

When next you have the opportunity to change your spec-frames.... go for something less round, the eye should not be in the middle of the glass of the spec-frame

Nice legs!!
I am a Denim-pants fanatic If you have "Barrington Jeans" in your country, go try some on, one has to look see that the pants don't make 'folds' under the cheeks, a different cut can fix that.
I'll advise tops with colour
Longer tops as in the first picture miepie posted.
Fitted pants with longer jerseys will also look good on you (Not button/zip-ups)
Wear tops that are cut on the bias of the fabric, it has a better 'flow' to it and not so formal... therefor I like that first pink top it flows very nicely...I am busy sewing one just like that for me at the moment

Professional?? What is your occupation??
You are in the winter season now??
Long skirts are nice with short fitting tops, what I mean by that is 'not bulky'....
Roaman's clothing looks very nice

[Ta-An]

I like this outfits..
http://www.roamans.com/Plus-Size-Jac...px?DeptId=9843

I like this link.... .

Nice idea with the hair also..... you could be a consultant

[catlover]

Firstly V, you have beautiful hair!!!! Yet..... I tend to agree with moonglow..... I'll put a scissor to that, unless you are growing your hair for religious reasons.... ??

I'll do a shoulder length with thin out to the top, so that you can still do a tie-up hair style and have a long-hair look when you need that.
The natural curls are a bonus!! I'll cut a bit of a fringe and blow-dry the hair to get a bit more height on top of your head....

A cut very much like moonglow suggested... Some days, that is fine, but when you constantly feel 'down' then do something different...

My daughter's philosophy regarding hair is this : A new style every day.... so she has several different styles she plays with, and every day the hair looks different
1. Water: Drink your 8 glasses of water a day
2. Sleep: you need your 8 H a night
3. Make-up: you don't need that every day.... some days a bit of mascara and a lipstick is enough...

When next you have the opportunity to change your spec-frames.... go for something less round, the eye should not be in the middle of the glass of the spec-frame

Nice legs!!
I am a Denim-pants fanatic If you have "Barrington Jeans" in your country, go try some on, one has to look see that the pants don't make 'folds' under the cheeks, a different cut can fix that.
I'll advise tops with colour
Longer tops as in the first picture miepie posted.
Fitted pants with longer jerseys will also look good on you (Not button/zip-ups)
Wear tops that are cut on the bias of the fabric, it has a better 'flow' to it and not so formal... therefor I like that first pink top it flows very nicely...I am busy sewing one just like that for me at the moment

Professional?? What is your occupation??
You are in the winter season now??
Long skirts are nice with short fitting tops, what I mean by that is 'not bulky'....
Roaman's clothing looks very nice

ok, I'm not sure I understand about the glasses and the eyes not being in the center. Do you have any pictures of examples???

[moonglow]

I like this link.... .

Nice idea with the hair also..... you could be a consultant

Thanks...but who would pay me?! lol I like the blazer, jackets on that link.

Oh I forgot to say when JC Pennies and other places like that have end of season sales...you can get some really great deals on clothes then. I got a shirt for six dollars that once.

[Ta-An]

Thanks...but who would pay me?!

Do it just for :"Job satisfaction"

[Ta-An]

ok, I'm not sure I understand about the glasses and the eyes not being in the center. Do you have any pictures of examples???

How to choose frames and another site
The eye should fit in the top half of the lens like the picture in this advert

[Vhayes]

I did get some rest over the weekend, so I feel better than I did. I appreciate all of the advice and will take it into consideration.

The glasses are 12 years old. My "new" 6 year old glasses broke a few months ago and I pulled these out of cold storage to get me through until we can afford for me to get new ones.

I really liked the idea of thrift store shopping and I know you're right - they sell some remarkable things at thrift stores. I'll maybe go soon so I can at least get a feel for what the prices are like. I do need some newer things. I'd like to get away from jeans because they are aggravating whatever is happening to my hips. I need something that isn't quite so form fitting, of that makes any sense at all.

I do eat well/healthy. I drink water (and coffee) all day long mainly because I love the refreshing feeling. The coffee I just love the taste but water is always a must.

The sleep thing was work related. I sleep well most nights, I just had an overwhelming workload.

The hair... the reason it hasn't been cut is two fold. We were stoney broke for a couple of years and there simply wasn't the money to get it "done" - especially knowing that I would need semi-regular trims. While i am still being ultra cautious with money, I would like to get it cut. I'm not someone who spends great amounts of time on my appearance and frankly, this mess of hair is supremely easy to deal with. Seriously, I wash it and go to bed. When I get up, it's still damp and I pull it up in a couple of clips on top of my head and that's it. It needs to be about shoulder length I think so I could still do that but would have the option of letting it hang loose with some sense of style if needed. It's also very, very thick and incredibly heavy.

Anyway - thank you all for your suggestions - and Spike, I apologize for hijacking your thread. But I appreciate the chance to talk about this sort of thing. I am not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination so I do sorta need help.

[Ta-An]

V, you wanna cut your own hair??

Make a pony-tail on your crown, hold pony-tail with one hand width away from the elastic and cut with the other hand that way it tapers and thins the hair out nicely................you might want to try 2 hand-widths away first, you can always cut it shorter, but you can't make it linger.... not that day in any case ....just remember, if you foul-up, hair grows again .. ..

[Dani H]

I think a great way for you to look more professional while still wearing jeans would be to buy different tops.

You can take a pair of jeans from totally casual to business casual just by wearing a blouse and blazer instead of a t-shirt or sweater.

I don't think you need a new wardrobe, just use the pieces you have and buy professional pieces to go with them. Buy them mix-and-match so you have options without breaking the bank. It's really not that difficult.

I'm a jeans person too V. Hands down. If I couldn't wear jeans, I'd cry. Many tears.

That's why I love Kohls so much because they have very classic style tops (like I said, by Sonoma and Croft & Barrow, among others) that look great with my jeans (I even wear them to church!) without making me look sloppy when I go out. Huge fan. And their sales are completely awesome. If you have a Kohls in your area, I'd highly recommend you go check it out.

And yea, get a hair cut and maybe some color. You can buy semi-permanent color that washes out over time. That's not a big commitment and you don't have to worry about roots showing. Then you can re-color it when you feel like it.

If you cut it and get different style clips that are a little more sophisticated maybe, that gives you more options for hair styles too. A nice hair clip can take even a polytail from blah to professional.

[NewInHim]

V: I think your hair is beautiful! When mine gets to be mostly grey (in the process now already!) I'd love for it to be that shiny and with such wonderful color! I am debating whether I should dye it or just go au natural, and I am leaning towards au natural, but my already grey hairs are crazy: white, and super, super crinky, flying up every which way. I can't imagine being respectable with an entire head of hair like that.

Anyhow, I don't like to spend money to get my hair cut, so one of my girldfriends happily does it for me. Just an option to conisder.

Also, I order my glasses online now. What would have cost me over $400 in an optometrist office cost me about $45, including shipping!!! (My glasses are expensive because I have a strong prescription, so to make thinner lenses with wire frames, I have to pay) This is where I got them from: http://www.zennioptical.com/ A lot of my friends have also used this site, and they have great customer service, and are willing to take stuff back/replace it.

Now, I do get conscious stricken sometimes when I think about buying from them, because that is me giving my business to someone overseas, and not helping out my local economy. However, there is now a local business here that has about the same prices for glasses, and I've had several friends buy from them. I am not sure how they can afford to make glasses so cheap, and I am not sure if I'd feel better about shoppping there, because probably they are just glasses from China as well, and nobody here is making much money, I dunno. It's something you'll have to decide for yourself, the ethics of it. I am still wrestling in my own mind.

[catlover]

V: I think your hair is beautiful! When mine gets to be mostly grey (in the process now already!) I'd love for it to be that shiny and with such wonderful color! I am debating whether I should dye it or just go au natural, and I am leaning towards au natural, but my already grey hairs are crazy: white, and super, super crinky, flying up every which way. I can't imagine being respectable with an entire head of hair like that.

Anyhow, I don't like to spend money to get my hair cut, so one of my girldfriends happily does it for me. Just an option to conisder.

Also, I order my glasses online now. What would have cost me over $400 in an optometrist office cost me about $45, including shipping!!! (My glasses are expensive because I have a strong prescription, so to make thinner lenses with wire frames, I have to pay) This is where I got them from: http://www.zennioptical.com/ A lot of my friends have also used this site, and they have great customer service, and are willing to take stuff back/replace it.

Now, I do get conscious stricken sometimes when I think about buying from them, because that is me giving my business to someone overseas, and not helping out my local economy. However, there is now a local business here that has about the same prices for glasses, and I've had several friends buy from them. I am not sure how they can afford to make glasses so cheap, and I am not sure if I'd feel better about shoppping there, because probably they are just glasses from China as well, and nobody here is making much money, I dunno. It's something you'll have to decide for yourself, the ethics of it. I am still wrestling in my own mind.

This is my dilemma with hair. I color it otherwise it would be salt/pepper. And I'm almost to the point of not wanting to color any more but if you just stop coloring, as it grows out, you would have half salt/pepper & half brown. Not sure what to do.

I know what you mean about the China thing. On Saturday we wanted to buy some salmon and my husband wouldn't get the ones that are produced in China. And, of course, those are the ones that are less expensive. So we paid double for non-China salmon. It doesn't bother me as much as him but I just go along with it.

[karenoka27]

V-I love long hair. I would only suggest trimming a bit to make it look more healthy.
Other than that I think you are a very beautiful woman.

[Ta-An]

Other than that I think you are a very beautiful woman.

I agree, she sounds far more strict than what she looks like
She has a very soft heart she just barks loud

[daughter]

I went shopping with a friend today, and basically allowed her to pick my outfit (according to colours that I know suit me). I went into the changing room, and for the first time in forever, everything fit, and when I turned to look at myself, I was lovely. Shocked me silly! Sometimes another woman who is a friend has a good eye for what makes you look attractive. I'm size eighteen top, twenty bottom (UK sizes) and her choice actually accentuated my curves in a really good way. Next time I'm shopping for clothes, she's promised to come with me.

So yes, try shopping with a friend.

[Ta-An]

I went shopping with a friend today, and basically allowed her to pick my outfit (according to colours that I know suit me). I went into the changing room, and for the first time in forever, everything fit, and when I turned to look at myself, I was lovely. Shocked me silly! Sometimes another woman who is a friend has a good eye for what makes you look attractive. I'm size eighteen top, twenty bottom (UK sizes) and her choice actually accentuated my curves in a really good way. Next time I'm shopping for clothes, she's promised to come with me.

So yes, try shopping with a friend.

So glad for you