I'm plain and tidy

 

Each morning when I get dressed, I wonder what the day will bring. I have learned over the course of time that those days when I have a pyjama day, something crops up and I have to don days clothes in a hurry. So I try to get dressed early in the morning.

I don't worry with makeup and just brush my hair. I have dresses that have sleeves and some that don't. So I can dress according to the weather.

Not a great fan of jewellery, I just wear my wedding ring and usually I just wear some stud earrings of a matching colour as my dress. Usually I am home, so I have some pretty bibbed aprons that I match up with the colour of the day.

Most times because of foot swelling, I go around the house barefoot, but I do have some black Skechers I wear when I go out. I don't wear socks or stockings.

These clothes work well for me- tidy, plain and modest and easy to wear and wash. No ironing. 

I would love to have long hair but I lost a lot of it due to illness and now I find it easier on my arms to keep it short. So I wear it in a pixi style which is like my clothes, easy to manage.

I would say my style is plain but tidy. And when you are chronically ill and in pain, it is enough. 

It's a good job today's clothing is not reliant on stays and corsets and many buttons and ruffles, because I just couldn't stand long enough to get it all right and I just don't have the patience. Also, I need to breathe freely and I know I couldn't with a corset! 

I am comforted that man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart. I really aren't that great to look at, but I look feminine and that and clean, tidy and modest would meet with His approval.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks 

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Fibro gets personal

Fibromyalgia has us unsure of where exactly our body is hurting, but for some of us, pain isn't the only symptom we have. There is one other that vies for our attention: itch!

My body itches everywhere.... my face is so itchy that I scratch at it until it bleeds. I use a ruler to scratch my shoulders, back and nape.

Sometimes in the morning my nails have blood under them where I have scratched my scalp. For this reason, I cannot get my grey hair dyed as I would get chemicals in my scalp.

Tags on my clothes cause me to itch unbearably so I cut them off. My hair blowing on my face or neck drives me insane with itch, so I keep my hair very short these days.

After all these twenty plus years of suffering with fibromyalgia, it has now gotten very personal. Very. And I have spoken to a few women I know well enough to ask, and who have fibro and they all agree that it has progressed from what we all discuss to now becoming very personal. You could say: intimate.

We have found that regardless of whether we have just showered or bathed, we suffer intense itching in our personal areas. 

So intense is this itch that it wakes us up and whips us into an itching frenzy. We are not satisfied until we have scratched ourselves raw.

Likewise, under our overhang on our lower abdomen, we have itch that drives us insane as well. And irregardless of hygiene- we have itching in the groins and back of the legs where the leg joins the groin.

It seems that fibromyalgia is a syndrome that annoys one to the inth degree and delights in attacking every phase and aspect of our life and body.

It gives one a new found compassion for the poor dog scraping itself along the ground with extreme personal itch.  One can relate.  Nothing gets more personal than fibro! 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 1:2

Nothing to be ashamed of!

Fibromyalgia has made many changes in my life and one of them is my dislike of wearing clothes. The mere touch of fabric on my skin, or the tags on my clothing can send me into an itching frenzy.

Before I wear something new, I will cut off all the tags and if it has lace, particularly around the neckline, I will not buy it or I will cut the lace off.

Mohair drives me insane with itch and brings me up in a rash wherever it touches my skin. I won't buy it. If I have a woollen top on, I have to wear a blouse with a collar under it to stop the itching.

In dressing, I have to put layers on because fibromyalgia sufferers' thermostats are broken. They can't be adjusted or fixed. It is not uncommon to feel cold when everyone is hot and vice versa. Anyway, it is important to me that I can reduce or add on clothing as required.

Not that I really enjoy wearing clothes anymore. In fact, if I could be naked without offending, I would. Not that I do go publically naked of course. And I do dress modestly as it's important to our witness. Not to mention I don't want to be arrested! lol

I do go around the house naked in the summer. In case of visitors, I have my sundress in easy reach. It is never a problem to quickly slip it on if there is a knock at the door. Chris will always wait for me to get into our bedroom to change before he answers the door.

We are mindful of others at all times and keep our drapes closed when I walk around. Of course,  it's not when we have guests or when grandchildren stay. If we are expecting company then of course I get dressed. If we are on holiday or guests, I wear a loose nightdress at night and clothes in the day.

I know I am in good company with Winston Churchill often holding interviews whilst in the bathtub or naked, even in his office. I am not that brazen...

But I know I am not alone in hating wearing clothes in the World of Fibromyalgia. I do not doubt that many fibro sufferers will join me in saying that they sleep in the nude as well. 

Clothes can make one feel that they are strangling you in bed.  Sheets, no matter how soft, end up causing the most awful itches and feelings of heat that most fibromites sleep with one leg out and a fan on. Even in winter.

There are so many changes in one's life with fibromyalgia and some you won't hear about. Such as a hatred of wearing clothes.  We keep it secret, like it's something to be ashamed of. 

Trying to keep oneself from scratching until one bleeds is a reason for compassion. If I only walk naked around my own home, with only my husband seeing me, I am not flaunting myself and being immodest. 

Coping with illness is nothing to be ashamed of: it's all part of accepting it and moving on. I know my God would understand. I am not ashamed at all. 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. Isaiah 49:13

Why yes, I do wear dresses only

Every woman eventually finds her style. Whether it be modest, immodest, fashionable, or vintage, she will find that which best portrays her belief system in her world-view and body image.

With being at the end of my 65 years, I have found a style of dress that suits me. And by saying "me" I also mean my husband, Chris. I try to dress in a way that he likes as I want him to like what he sees.

Although I would have loved to wear skirts and dresses a long time ago, it is only recently when I needed to replace all my slacks, pants and jeans that he agreed to me buying skirts and dresses only. It's no good me dressing how I want if he's not happy with it. 

Speaking of which, Chris would never comment negatively about my appearance, but I figure in spite of my large size, I owe it to him to try to dress attractively. As his wife, I want to be a crown to him and not let him down through looking like I had just been caught in a hurricane. I want to bring him honour and having a wife who looks like a crumb to my mind isn't very honouring.

Anyway, I found modest but pretty ankle length skirts and summer dresses with string straps,   which I partnered with cotton lacy bolero tops that covered my beefy arms and made me feel more modest without sweltering in our Australian summer.  For my Australian friends, I can recommend Millers who cater for plus sizes up to 24 and who accept Afterpay.  

With my ankle length skirts, in winter, I can wear leggings underneath them and top them with a cardigan or jumper (sweater). I team that with a matching scarf around my neck. You can see my picture here if you wish.

I also found a modest pair of bathers with a long skirt around them. This is a wonderful help to me because I am very self-conscious of my large size and prefer to keep as much unruly flesh covered as is humanly possible when I go to the hydro therapy pool for physio.

My lupus has flared and I am losing my hair again. It has grown to about 12 inches from below my shoulders but is very thin. So I have been sweeping it back off my face and putting it up in a pony tail. Sometimes I roll it into a bun or French roll to keep it off my neck. My fibromyalgia makes me itch so much if the hair touches my face, neck or shoulders, so I try to keep it up and off my face.

I am almost completely silver in the front of my head now with a silver streak down the whole side on one side only. As I am allergic to hair dyes I am not dyeing it. Fortunately, Chris quite likes silver and often tells me so as he puts my hair into a bun. Chris helps me for with polymyalgia rheumatica, I cannot extend my arms for too long!

Regarding covering my hair, Chris was not happy with head coverings, hair bands or scarves but encouraged me to grow my hair, which I have done. As I said, I keep it up. I am saving to buy some Lilla Rose Flexi clips... I love those but they are a bit pricey! 

Wearing only dresses and skirts is not legalistic with me. Pants or skirts are not a salvation issue. I believe as long as a woman dresses  modestly and femininely, it is pleasing to the LORD. But I feel more feminine in skirts and dresses and I love that the straight lines and length help hide my extra curvy hips and legs. Jeans and slacks accentuated my stomach and made me look like I was expecting- (Sarah the Second!)

I wear a little makeup on a good day and always have earrings and my wedding rings on. I cannot wear jewellery round my neck or wrists because of the fibromyalgia making me itch badly. I wear flat sandals, even in winter as my heart is failing and my legs and feet swell badly.  Overall, my style is not too fussy, but well kept and clean looking. I am happy with it and so is Chris. 

All in all, my style looks like the picture at the top, without the hat. What's your style?

© Glenys Robyn Hicks 

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Proverbs 31:22