My Girly Guh-rl

A couple of weeks ago, I took Ella shopping at a mall. She took an old purse of mine, put her “Jammie Baby” in it (named a long time ago for the pajamas that she came dressed in from the store) and all of Jammie’s accessories – blankie, bottle, and extra clothes. We both had skirts on and it was our first mother-daughter outing that was more than a trip to Albertson’s. I couldn’t believe how much fun we had together. I had visions of the future that day – of the two of us becoming friends like I am with my mother. We do have quite different styles, but I think we can teach each other a few things. I do know that she is rubbing off on me. She is affecting my style.

I grew up in an upper middle class suburb of Minneapolis and went to high school in the late ‘70s – early ‘80s. My attire consisted of argyle knee socks, wide wale cords, kilts, penny loafers, pastel button down oxfords and monogrammed crew neck sweaters. I loved every minute of it. When I got to college in Iowa things became a bit more casual and trendy for me. Remember long big shirts over stirrup pants? This outfit was my friend because big girls, with big butts, needed that kind of coverage. My bangs were sprayed tall and I still wore penny loafers.

As I entered the advertising world, and worked in downtown Minneapolis, I would shop the clearance rack at Dayton’s Oval Room for silky blouses. I wore them with skirts, hose and pumps every day. Very traditional. Grad school and the education field introduced me to khakis, casual sweaters and black pants. I lost my bangs, kept my penny loafers, but finally had some income to get different styles of flat shoes. My colors of choice have been black, charcoal grey, white and an occasional navy or light blue. I still dress in a fairly classic style. Solid separates, crew neck collars, nothing feminine or frilly.

Along came Ella. Not being a fan of pink, or femininity in general, I tried to dress her in blue and yellow as much as possible. Pink outfits poured in after her birth, however. Always the tight wad, I wasn’t about to let any of these outfits go to waste. Okay, I never put her in the Green Bay Packer cheerleading outfit, but other than that I dressed her in everything she was given. The “girl” colors started to grow on me. I actually started buying her pink and purple outfits.

Ella naturally loves these colors and lets me know as often as possible. “Mom – I want to wear the puh-ple shirt with the flowers – not THAT shirt!” Every day she gets more and more opinionated about her dress. She wants her hair bands, or “pretties” as we call them, to match her outfit and will only wear certain shoes with certain outfits. I think it’s actually starting to rub off on me. She is a girly girl in every sense of the phrase, and I am succumbing to it.

Last week, I bought blue sequined flip flops while in Minneapolis. I also bought a semi low-cut sleeveless top. Today I actually considered purchasing a PINK sweater until Beth knocked some sense in me. I did get pale yellow instead of white or black which I felt was a move in the girly-girl direction. The final stop in my shopping trip was Victoria’s Secret. I think I’ve gone overboard – I bought a lacy bra. Ella was proud of me even though she insisted it was a hat.