Chronically Ill and Falling Fom Style: 9-1-1 to the Fashion Police!

As a member of Bloggy Moms, this month's Blog challenge has to do with falling from fashion - where do you stand on fashion trends? Boy, I'll bet they don't see this post comin'!

When you're chronically ill, there are some things that simply cease to be important. When you're just trying to survive, you try to stop noticing what people think of you when they look at you, you hope they see the beauty inside of you instead. At the same time, those outwardly visible things can simultaneously make or break your day - like how you dress.

How can this be?!

When I talk about dressing, I'm not talking about dressing up, but simply getting dressed - mindfully. It's the little things that matter now. What I once used to take for granted I now depend on to help me feel better.

On the very worst days, when I wake up feeling awful, I try so very hard to get out of bed and get dressed all the way down to my shoes. Why? Because it makes me feel better. No, not the doing - that is downright painful, sometimes torturous with all that bending and stooping, grunting and groaning and pulling and tying. I feel better when I'm finished with all of that and stand and look at myself in the mirror and realize how much better I look. When I look ready to meet the world on its terms, I feel ready!

What's more, I try to wear something - at least one thing - that makes me feel like I did something special for myself. It might be a ring that everyone can see. It might be silky underthings that only I know are there. Sometimes it's mascara - a rare indulgence since autoimmunity took over my life. Or eyeshadow which just kind of make me look like I care a little. Sometimes it's a shiny silver bracelet engraved with words of encouragement.

On style? I haven't forgotten style, but I have become a slave to things that simply 'work' for me:

• My big brown aviator sunglasses are far from glamorous, but they work for my Migraine and sun sensitivity, and they were the only ones that did. So - I wear them.
• My stretchy sweat pants - I wear those because some days my abdomen can't take wearing anything that binds me in the middle without causing a lot of pain.
• Oversized soft t-shirts that don't irritate the rash on my torso.
• Heavy boot socks to keep the circulation going in my blue feet.
• My Shape-ups shoes that allow me to walk with less pain.
• Even in summer I sometimes wear black gloves as I try to keep the circulation going in my hands and fingers.
• In winter I'm often seen wearing all these in layers in whatever colors are clean for the day.
• Long pants or skirts cover scarred legs - when I dare.

Honest - I do try to mix and match when I can, but sometimes clean and serviceable just has to take a priority over pretty.

Yes, I'm sometimes embarrassed to go out in public looking like jailbait for the Fashion Police, so those days I pretend I'm in disguise, lol. You see, I used to be very fashion conscious - I was even a model for a few years, getting paid to prance around wearing fabulous clothes. Boy are those days gone!

I try to put on makeup and make my hair look presentable. I do try to wear things that make me feel good, even in the presence of those things that remind me of the items I can't wear anymore.

The fact is, I try, and I'm not alone...

So, before you send around the Fashion Police, please stop to remember why someone who is chronically ill may be wearing something that is well.... unfashionable. You might take a moment to stop and notice the yellow diamond ring, or the sparkly earrings, or the lovely shade of lipstick and bypass the other stuff that I assure you, we dislike as much as everyone else. Someday perhaps a designer will come up with a way to make clothing that is serviceable for us and our particular needs AND looks beautiful. Until then, I guess I'll keep going to the store incognito!