High fashion in lowly places

Hillary has her own sense of style. She's eclectic. She's funky. She's creative. She does things like...wear her dad's ties to school, put a short dress over jeans, pair converse tennis shoes with something unexpected...and jewelry is no-holds-barred. So I'm flattered that she is constantly trolling my closet for things to wear. My style is more...conservative. Some may even say...boring. So I'm always surprised when she manages to make a complete outfit out of pieces of my stuff that I would never think to link. This happened just last night when she wore a skirt of mine with a red sweater and my brown heels to church. Of course, this putting together of outfits comes with many try-ons and discards, til my room looks like a teenagers with clothes draped over lamp shades and every other available surface. Finally she said, "Now I just need some jewelry." To which I said, "Good luck." She dug around for a few minutes and pulled out a long string of reddish beads that I bought for one holiday outfit and have never really worn with anything else. Voila! Magic. It was a perfect, sophisticated, but somehow youthful look.
The benefits of having a daughter my size is that I can root in her closet occasionally. Today was Royal Reader day at my school, and I was at a loss as to what to wear. It's too cold for a dress, but nothing else I have is very "royal" looking. In Hillary's closet I found a long, velvet, ruffled skirt and a sparkly blue shirt. Which I paired with UnderArmor pants and a pair of Parker's black ankle socks. For me, keeping warm trumps looking regal every time! But what a blessing...who else but an athlete with an artistic bent would have UnderArmor pants AND silver sequined shoes in her closet. I'm a lucky mom!