Size 6X

I love clothes. As a little girl, my mom sewed most of my clothes and I loved going to the fabric store, looking through pattern books and picking out fabric. I thought I was special because I didn't have many store-bought clothes and there were no worries that another girl would show up at school wearing the same dress that I wore.

I was a small girl. I remember my mother saying, "I wish you were a 6X." It seemed I stayed a size 6 for a long time, and those were baby clothes. 6X were big girl clothes - more fashion appropriate for an 8 year old! The day I finally fit into 6X, I felt so grown up! There were so many options for big girls and one of my favorite pastimes was paging through JC Penney and Sears catalogs.

Sizes 7-14 were uneventful. I don't recall anything special about my clothing during those years, except for my first and only pair of bellbottoms - they were supposed to look like the American flag - red and blue stripes, and white stars - and I adored them. (Hey - I said I loved clothes, not that I had fashion sense!)

Throughout junior high and high school, my mom and I made bi-annual excursions to Fargo (the big city) to do my fall and spring wardrobe shopping. We would be on the road by 6 a.m., eat breakfast in Tower City, and shop all day at the mall. I would stock up! And I couldn't wait to wear every outfit to school. I felt so fashion forward! My most memorable outfit was a pair of yellow pants with a black and yellow striped sweater. I must have looked like a giant bumblebee but I felt so pretty!

In college, away from home for the first time, I didn't just gain the freshman 15 - more like the freshman 30. And for a 5'2" girl, that's a lot of weight. So I jumped from sizes 5/6 to 13/14 quickly, painfully, and self-consciously. This was not a fun fashion era for me.

By the end of my sophomore year, I lost the weight and began to enjoy clothes again. I subsequently got married, had children, started a career, and all the while, wore the same size - cute, trendy items all found in the junior department.

When I turned 40, I began to wonder if I should still shop in the junior department. After all, I certainly wasn't a young woman anymore! But I thought the clothes were cuter than those in misses and they fit me well, so I continued to get my jeans, shirts, sweaters, and dresses there. Until I noticed that most of the shoppers were 14 year old girls looking for homecoming dresses with their mothers.

So I moved on. I found a couple stores that had clothes that fit well and were cute yet appropriate. I especially loved the Loft....until this year. I've found that at age 52, I'm once again in between - I don't want to look like I'm trying to be 25 yet I want to look fashion forward.

Last night, Mr. Man and I went shopping at our favorite casual clothes venue - Eddie Bauer. And as we tried on various shirts and sweaters, I resisted a pair of boyfriend jeans, thinking they were way too young for someone my age. The sales clerk saw me and said, "Do you want to try them?" To which I replied, "I think I'm too old." She pointed to her manager (who is at least 10 years younger than me) and said, "She's wearing them right now. They're not too young for you." That's all it took. I tried them on, I asked Mr. Man what he thought, he gave me a nod, and guess what?! I'm wearing them now. I chuckle to myself to call them boyfriend jeans, though. After all, my "boyfriend" and I have been married for 31 years.

I'm not sure where my fashion adventures will lead me, but I'm sure that whatever age I am, I'll keep looking for my 6X!