A Sparkling Vintage Life

lm montgomery2
“My day for the frilly gowns of organdy and lace is over–henceforth I must wear the richer hues and materials of the matron. But I shall never be indifferent to dress. It is a very foolish woman who is–just as foolish as the one who makes it the foremost and only thing. Both are badly mistaken.”

L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery is best known for writing Anne of Green Gables and its sequels, but she wrote many other books. (My personal favorite of hers is The Blue Castle.) I love her attitude toward clothes. She acknowledges that some types of clothing are more suitable for mature women than others, and that there is nothing wrong with this. There’s no need for a woman in her fifties to try to look twenty-five.The old expression “mutton dressed as lamb” is just as applicable today as it was in Lucy Maud’s day.

In this quote, Miss Montgomery also affirms that caring about what we wear is a good thing, when not taken to extremes. A woman who cares about her clothes is not automatically a shallow and vain clotheshorse, and a woman who pays no attention to her clothes does not automatically have the moral high ground. There is a lot of middle ground between the two extremes. As in most things, moderation is key.