My husband is an avid New York Times reader, and he likes to pull articles for me he thinks I will like—when I can’t read it all myself! Anyway, I really enjoyed a tribute Maureen Dowd wrote about First Lady Barbara Bush. She has known her throughout the years in the White House and beyond.
Here’s the article if you want to read it: https://www.wral.com/barbara-bush-fake-pearls-real-heart/17502284/
Anyway, I was drawn to the part that some of her husband’s political handlers wanted Barbara to change her style – “what will we do with Barbara?”. She said she suspected they wanted her to dye her hair, lose a few pounds, etc., and it hurt her feelings. That’s sad.
During her years when her husband was a vice president she was told she couldn’t wear “Nancy Reagan Red!” etc. That’s something!
One of the radio stations, a commentator said Barbara Bush “served her country,” and I couldn’t have said it any better. The family makes sacrifices during political office, not just the person in the office.
On a more personal note, I have to admire Barbara because she knew her style and stayed true to it. If only we could all do that and feel perfectly “ourselves” all the time. She always wore pearls – good for her! Her hair was natural—and beautiful. It was always styled in a flattering way.
I would describe Barbara Bush’s style as “classic.” She loved a tailored jacket, a button-down shirt and straight skirt and pants. It fit her.
Some of us, of course, can’t understand wanting that type of style. And that is fine, too, but don’t be envious just because someone knows who she is and doesn’t let trends define who she is!
On another note…
My husband and I went to the Indianapolis Symphony last Friday night to see Josh Kaufman, who won The Voice about 5 years ago. As I always do, I love to people watch and see what everyone wears to this night out! I was watching the men more than the women since you can always depend on women to wear a dress, a suit, dressy pants or even a going-out skinny jean ensemble. They all look great!
But I was noting that nearly all the men wore the same uniform – in fact, it’s what I asked my husband to wear: a blue plaid (faint) sport coat, a blue plaid shirt (very fine pattern), a pink pocket scarf, dark rinse straight blue jeans and camel color Oxfords. Everyone else received the memo, since most of the men wore this same outfit with a few variations: some wore black shoes with jeans, grey jeans with blue, etc. For the most part, very few men wore a suit. Those who did sported a more casual suit which I really like: note to self – I need to find Michael a more casual suit for these occasions.
Keep it sassy, Indy.
Beth Divine, Image Consultant AICI CIC and Personal Stylist
