March 14, 2018 – Fashion twin?
Today’s
Dear Abby Column, “Woman irked when co-worker mimics her distinctive style,”
caught my attention. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud – LOL – at “One of a
Kind” in Illinois who was complaining that she recently lost weight and a grossly
obese woman at her place of work is copying the way she dresses.
Excuse
me! Jeanne Phillips, the columnist,
pointed out that it was a form of flattery – you know that age-old line, “Imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Let
us stand back and look at this situation with clear eyes. If ‘One of a Kind’ is a size 10 and the grossly
obese woman is a size – let’s put it up there – a size 26 – there is something
wrong with this picture and this so-called complaint.
First.
‘One of a Kind’ might be still dressing in fat women clothes even though she
has lost weight. ‘One of a Kind’ needs
to do a serious re-think of her fashion style and her level of self-esteem. Is
she still wearing the fat clothes – now cinched in with a belt or taken in by a
tailor? If so – WRONG on her part. She
needs new duds and fast.
Second. Where does a
size 26 obese woman find clothes that mirror a small size, like a size 10? I would like to know that myself; please,
someone send me an email and tell me where you can find fashionable clothes for
the obese.
Third. Does ‘One of
Kind’ actually think that clients or fellow workers don’t notice one person is
trim and the other is a big blob in the same outfit? Of course they are probably
snickering behind their backs at how ridiculous one of these women dresses?
Possibly the snickering is rightly directed at ‘One of Kind’ who is not dressed
as well as she could be now that she is trim and ‘One of a Kind’ actually knows
this subconsciously, but won’t change her style to correct the issue.
Fourth. Possibly the
obese woman has such great self-esteem that when she looks in the mirror she
thinks she looks just fine, or in fact, lovely as she celebrates enjoying being
in her own skin. That is good for her and bad for ‘One of a Kind’. There is more to life than being a certain
dress size.
Fifth. Does ‘One of a
Kind’ have the same color hair and eyes, or poise as the person who is copying
her? I doubt it. Everyone has a different style – a perfect example:
three women lead singers – same gowns worn by each, but each so individual that
the audience can differentiate which is which.
If this style copier were your twin sister, you could have a legitimate
complaint – but me, a layperson, I don’t see your problem.
Lastly. Possibly both
‘One of a Kind’ and obese have taken pages out of the Career Women’s wardrobe
primer and they are both wearing classics or in this case, clothes from the
fashion place that ‘One of a Kind’ indicates she has worked in for years.
You can’t claim your
own individuality of any classic clothing item – like a trench coat, a black
suit with a white top, or a classic navy blue dress. If there is a rack in the store that has a
beige trench coat is sizes from one to 30 – you are out of luck trying to claim
your own personal fashion statement as you are competing with the world.
I dress like Audrey
Hepburn – all the time, but I sure don’t look like Audrey Hepburn because I’ve
stolen some basics, a trench coat, the little black dress and black flats. But,
dozens of times in my varied work life I have shown up in the conference room
and across the table are women with the same color I am wearing. I use humor, “Oh, we all must have gotten the
memo to wear black with cobalt blue today.”
It lightens the mood. Intelligent
women, with style and grace don’t wring our hands and cry and moan and pitch a
fit over something so mundane. We admire
how good we all look – short, tall, fat, skinny, old, and young, as well as smart
and dumb.
I suggest, ‘One of a
Kind’, skip the victim hood of “this is harassment; she should pay me for
copying my style, etc.” Part of me almost
thinks this is a HOAX Dear Abby letter.
Here is my two-point advice. One. Keep a second outfit in the trunk of
your car, and change if you think you look like a duplicate. Two. Go out and
buy some nice new clothes, not from the fashion house that you both work
in. Obese is probably getting her
clothes on discount just like you are.
Or, simply use humor
when you show up at work and you think you are looking at your fashion twin, by
saying, “Oh, you look fabulous, just like me.”
1 comment:
A 26 to a 10 laughed out loud.
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