Ashleigh 0 - Frump 1.

After my last post about the twins being 6 months, I realised something else. I'm still wearing stuff I wore when I was pregnant. I'm not talking about the nice stuff, all the cute maternity tunics and dresses have been stowed.

My general daily outfit is sweats, long sleeved tee, and (when it's chilly and I have to leave the house) a jacket or fleece belonging to the hubby.

Yep, that's right. I've not got a jacket that fits, so I pilfer one of the hubby's.

Frumpy, huh?

The thing is, I've realised that what they say is right. 'Clothes maketh the (wo)man.' It's as much about how you see yourself, as about how others see you. Now, I'm sure there are people who could wear an outfit like the one I described, and look great, because they wear it with confidence. Me? I look like I might steal crackers from the grocery store.

There's nothing wrong with relaxed dressing, but I've gotten downright slobby, and it's lazy and a tiny bit selfish.

My kids deserve a mum who feels good and confident enough to get out and about with them (to places other than the grocery store). My husband deserves to come home from work, or spend his days off with a wife who looks like she cares and wants to look good for him.

I could say 'well, I've got twins, there's no time for all that, blah, blah...' but I'd be kidding myself, and doing my family a disservice. During WW2 women embraced the concept of 'beauty as duty' These women were often looking after families, working to help the war effort, and may also have been volunteering. Many would have been kept up half the night by air-raids. Despite what must have been 6 years of near-constant exhaustion, these women still made the effort to iron their clothes, do their hair, and put on a bit of lippy.

Now, I'm not going to be sporting a victory roll any time soon, but perhaps it's time to take a leaf out of that generation's book, and standing firm in the fight against the frump.