Sartorially Challenged

McMumsy is hosting a luncheon soon for my brother’s fiancées family. Said family is old New England, lovely and refined I am sure (I have not met them but little brother’s fiancée is lovely and refined) and there’s even an elderly grandma for my elderly grandma to spend time with. Trouble is, my elderly grandma is not big on wearing fancy clothes. Or bras, for that matter. We’ve all tried (well, I’ve sort of tried), for years, to get her to change her polyester-pants and pilled-stained-inherited-from-her-dead-friend-Josephine-blouse-wearing ways but she is one stubborn woman who dresses in whatever the hell she wants. Which is often an ancient outfit with a certain joie de bag lady feel.

But you can’t bring a bag lady to meet the in-laws. So a-shopping we will go. It should be an interesting trip. I’ve tended to be the one who feeds her addiction for inappropriateness, taking her on combo Goodwill/Market Basket shopping trips where I agree with her on what a bargain the horrible pants are/hold the bag open while she drops the jelly doughnuts in. I think this might partly be why I am her favorite. (It might also be because I once removed an engorged tick from her breast, but that’s a story for, well, that’s a story for never, now, isn't it.)

Anyhoo, if anyone has any suggestions for where to shop for a nearly 90 year old woman, I’d love to hear them. Because I feel like the upper end for Talbot’s is your sixties. After that, where do you go?