After 9/11 by Charles Martin.
I don’t think I’m ready to comment on this, except to say it’s really powerful and manages to avoid all the schmaltz I would fear from a treatment of this subject. It is daring and ambitious and I think succeeds quite well.
Thanks to Joseph Bottum who pointed to this from his column at First Things and said it may be the poem of the year. I think I might just agree.
Quite frankly, Melanie, I doubt it too, especially if you have pretty much identical stores in the different malls.
Trying to be helpful … maybe you’ll have to shop online, like you did for your wedding veil.
You wouldn’t have to wade through that consumerist Christmas-orgy crap, either.
I don’t know if you’re still looking, but: I’m 5’9” and about 4 years ago made myself a black velvet, ankle length skirt for the holidays. It’s got a zipper, but the waist came out a bit large, so it would probably be fine. I’m local, so if you want it, let me know.
Hey, found you from Amy’s and congrats on the baby! I registered here JUST so I – as one tall girl to another – can talk about tall girl clothes. Here’s what I did (and sometimes still do, despite my not being pregnant anymore):
Try the cheapie stores. You know, those teeny-bopper stores with nearly disposable quality clothes. You only need a few skirts and you only need them for a while. Buy up a sixe – or 2 – or 3! – and go for the stretchy waistband and wear that under the expanding belly.
I cna’t understand why you didn’t have any luck with long skirts; right now, there is the whole tiered-skirt thing going on, left over from the summer, except the fabrics are heavier. They tend to range anywhere from below knee to ankle length, but for me, their ankle length is my just-below-the-calf. (Fine, as long as I can wear boots with them; I don’t like the cold much, either. Ballet flats work particularly well, too.)
I have a bunch of these skirts in velvet, in courderoy and some lighter fabrics, and most of them have some beading on them (which I like!).
Here’s a more expensive example of what I’m talking about:
http://store.nordstrom.com/product/product.asp?StyleID=2884079&Search=True&SearchType=keywordsearch&keyword=skirts+>+Women’s+Apparel
Clothing: it’s my vice. Keep it under your chapeau, ‘k?
Thanks for the advice and the offers to those who’ve posted and those who’ve emailed.
I’m actually much less interested in doing anything about it than venting my spleen. The truth is I hate shopping and only really care about my clothes on alternate Tuesdays. But when I do suddenly care to get new clothes I always have a very particular idea of what I want to find at the stores. Of course nine times out of ten I’m disappointed.
Sometimes I do find things I wasn’t looking for and am pleasantly surprised… on the whole that has been my experience with maternity clothes. I’ve got some great treasures in my closet I didn’t even know I was looking for when I set out to the mall.
But the thing is I’m fairly lazy about shopping. If I don’t find what I’m looking for in one or two trips to the mall, I get frustrated. I don’t want to have to search specialty stores and I don’t want to order online because I’m so picky. Half the things I think look good on the hanger or in the catalogue look terrible on me.
As far as why I’m having such bad luck with long skirts right now… There are plenty of nice long skirts out there that still don’t match my platonic ideal, usually because they are still too short. I want things that reach my ankles. This would be much easier if I were much shorter, I know, or if I were willing to compromise and wear shorter skirts.
Eventually I’ll stumble across what I want, compromise and settle for second best, or just do without. I just wish my tastes weren’t so absolutely contrary to those I find in the stores so I didn’t have to spend any time or energy on the subject.