FABULOUSLY FEMININE

Marilyn Monroe

I would love to see a return to femininity; in advertising, films, make-up trends, hairstyles and clothing choices ... especially for teens and young women!

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Lately, I've noticed that there really aren't very many feminine clothing options for the teen or young woman of today. There is still an abundance of pretty clothes for little girls and tweens; and even flattering clothing options for a woman of my age. But for teens and young women? Not so much. It's hoodies and joggers or crop tops and yoga pants. Check out popular clothing stores online if you are out of the loop as to what's on offer. You will probably see, as I did, that clothing for the teenage girl/young woman fits pretty much into three camps: 1) active wear; 2) overt sexuality to the point of being comical; or 3) a unisex look ... that leans heavily towards de-emphasizing a woman's natural curves and adopting a more male style of dressing (I suppose, in a misguided attempt at equality or to make women look powerful). But ladies, we already won that fight!

Marilyn Monroe, Niagara Falls

Clothing should reflect a person's style and also suit the occasion.  I don't feel that young women today are being given this option - in stores or online. They are being cheated out of a great tool for self-expression. A business suit to the office, a peasant skirt and blouse for a walk on a summer's day, a little black dress for evening cocktails or jeans and a sweater for school - all these options should be available and more - without having to shop at an "old lady" store!

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Dougherty)

Fortunately, I have seen a very heartening trend. I belong to a vintage clothing group and a number of young 20 somethings are becoming entranced with the wide array of flattering clothing styles available. They are having a great deal of fun ... and taking selfies of the results! They ask a lot of questions because some of them honestly have never seen fitted clothes like this before. One dear girl had zipped a business skirt up the front - she simply didn't know it could zip at the side or the back - depending on where it "fell" on the hips. We've lost a generation here!!

Then there's the cosmetics. Yikes! The make-up trends today seem to be aiming for extreme exaggerations of female features and have taken on, in my mind, an almost "clown-ish" representation of the feminine. Starting with the over-done fake fingernails, progressing on to extremely heavy "coloured on" eyebrows and thick eye-lining techniques, and ending with bee-stung lips and an almost "plastic" or waxed sheen to the skin and hair.

What a sharp contrast to make-up techniques of previous generations that created a flawless complexion and while yes, highlighting lips, eyes and cheekbones ... still created what would now be considered a very "toned down" version of these features.

The reaction to this, of course, is many teenagers and young women have rejected expressing their feminine side ... since the only femininity presented to them is the overdone "Kardashian" non-reality. Yes, every generation creates their own style. But too often it is really created by heavy marketing of a particular style influenced by the politics of the day. Being feminine is not a sign of weakness. We don't need to look and dress like men to be equal, nor do we need to exaggerate female features to comic proportions. And if that is one's preference of style; that's okay too! Because the old sayings still hold true. "Variety is the spice of life" and "Just be yourself".

PS The absolute hardest part of writing this article was deciding on which photos to use of the always gorgeous Marilyn Monroe!

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan, 2021