Size Matters

Fans of the HBO series "Sex and the City" may remember Miranda's "skinny jeans." The episode focused on Miranda's triumph when she successfully got back into a pair of blue jeans she favored before her pregnancy with her son. The jeans were more than a piece of clothing; they represented the pre-baby story she maintained about her appearance and her life.

Most women I know have graduated wardrobes -- clothes that reflect the passage of styles and sizes that match various periods of their adult lives.

One executive I know kept a picture of her thinner self in her home office with a PostIt attached which said "I Want This Body Back!"

Another entrepreneur I know had maintained a closet carefully coordinated by size so that she could retrieve whatever outfit she needed, no matter where she fell within her six-size spread (no pun intended).

Now, I like to save money as much as the next person. And despite the thrill of "retail therapy," I usually discourage the idea of shopping just for the fun of shopping. There are other, better feel-good remedies to be found.

However, the idea of retreating to old clothes and old body images doesn't work for me either.

When I asked the executive about her fixation with her 20-years younger self, she talked about how attractive she was back then. Indeed, the photograph shows a beautiful, confident woman; a show-stopper. She was, as they say in the venacular, FINE.

The passage of two decades had not robbed this vice president of her looks. She remains a beautiful woman, commanding attention whenever she walk into a room.

Does it make sense for any middle-aged woman to compete against image of someone 20 years younger? Even if it's your own image?

Think on that.

As for the clothing collector: can it be good to keep reaching back to old images and presentions? Even if the clothes fit the body, they may not fit the personality inside them now.

Millions of words have been written and spoken about weight loss and body image and fitness and self-maintenance. Those all are important issues, but secondary to this point of this essay. I am writing about self awareness in the present moment. Where you are now, and where you are going.

The executive acknowledged that her 20-years-younger self looked great, but lacked the awareness and experience she now brought to the executive suite. The entrepreneur knows she is putting forth a much different image to the world now that she works for herself.

It's not the garment, nor the number on the label, that determine the "fit." That comes from within.

Try that on for size.