Fashion for the Modern, Solitary, Hedge Witch

 There are women, and men, that know how to dress. No matter their weight, height, or circumstance they seem to have an inner beacon that guides them towards the clothing and shoes that most flatter their figure and personality. That isn’t me. 

I was born in the mid 1970s, which means that I began developing my first fashion sense in the 1980s… pause and let your imagination run wild, colorful, shoulders padded, hair stiffly sprayed, jeans rolled tightly, beads long and plastic.… There are rumors that we damaged the ozone layer and the global ecological balance with our sense of fashion. The 1990s had me in the backwoods of Pennsylvania immersed in the early days of homeschool culture. Most of the homeschool families then were highly conservative, religious, and had stay-at-home type mothers. Sewing was trending with that collective and the look leaned towards homemade jumpers. It was a fascinating phenomenon. The transition into the early 2000s found me pregnant off and on for over a decade. It wasn’t until 2011 that I experienced my last postpartum recovery year and I could really ask myself if I had a shape, and if my wardrobe had a style. 

And then there’s my hair. It is wavy and aging. It isn’t quite wild enough to make me look like a genius, and it isn’t ever tame enough for me to even try being trendy like a Disney princess. I have witch hair. It has a mind of its own and usually reflects my mood. Ponytails give me a head ache after awhile. I like hats, but they are only appropriate outside. They aren’t trending much anywhere that I go, not that I care much about fitting in, but I’m not necessarily trying to stand out either. I could wear some type of cloth on my head, and sometimes I do, but they don’t stay put and seem to send a confusing message of religious submission. Heavens forbid if I were to inadvertently make some religious patriarch think that I honor his thoughts on theology far more than my own… I’m not asking for trouble. I’m just trying to figure out what to wear and how to manage my hair without feeling odd, destructive, or sending the wrong message… but I’m often alone these days, so what is fashion to me if it isn’t practical and comfortable?