Merciless are the hips I have and the children I teach. The great thing about teenage high school students is that they aren't afraid to speak their minds. They will tell me when they don't like my hair or when I'm frowning too much or when my voice is raised too high for their liking. Mind you, these are the girls I'm talking about here. I've worked hard to cultivate relationships with them whereby they trust me and, apparently, I've done a great job because they tell me everything.

But let's get back to my hips, shall we?

When Susan asked me what was difficult about shopping for my body type I immediately thought about the fact that in my new job I've been actively looking for a new wardrobe. What I'm looking for is threefold:

1) comfort

2) professional but not tailored suits that end up looking too "manly"

and

3) fashionable and hip (but in the good way)

TJ Maxx made it easier to shop by offering a $50 gift card and for that, I'm eternally grateful. I feared that I would, as is the way, walk around the store for hours without finding anything because, of course, I now had the money to do so. Our local TJ Maxx store was recently redesigned and it looks amazing inside. It's much more streamlined and neat which I like. I've always been a TJ Maxx fan when it comes to home furnishings, clothes, and jewelry. You could say I'm a permanent fixture there.

What I was trying to search for with my figure is something that would flatter, not accentuate, and be of good quality. When I see something I like the first thing I do is feel the material. I can't really say what happens when my fingers touch it, but they somehow know. You know? Things that feel good in my hands will obviously feel good on my body.

Imagine my surprise when I found what I was looking for almost immediately. I went to the career section and found a khaki skirt that I knew would look good with just about any top. The fabric is soft and stretchy in a way that I didn't expect, the buttons are wooden and well made, and the length for a woman as tall as I am hit me right at the knee. Anything lower than that and I know that my large calf muscles would look too chunky. My female students would surely reprehend me for wearing something like that! But this? It was perfect.

Next, I found a button up white shirt that came with a skinny leopard print belt (which I only wear occasionally) and puffy short sleeves. This find didn't excite me much because it's just a staple item and there's no sense in getting excited about that. But when paired with the skirt, it was perfect. An A+, if you will.

I must discolse here that I didn't stop shopping then. The skirt and top were $24.99 and $19.99 respectively and my gift card was going to nearly be spent.

Then I had to walk by a pair of pants that called out sweetly to me. "Come here, sweet cheeks. Watch how good we're going to look on you. You can even pair us with that white top in your hands."

When will clothes stop talking to me?

These twill pants have a sailor-type button pattern that both fit my hips AND flattened my stomach but most importantly, they were L-O-N-G and fit me perfectly with a pair of black heels. I didn't even try to talk myself into not buying them with my own money. As soon as they were over my hips and being buttoned up I groaned aloud in the dressing room.

"Oh, honey. You're coming home with ME."

Sure, all this talking to myself is alarming, but wait until you hear what I overheard when two teenage girls were waiting outside my office! I was walking, nay strutting, to the copy machine and swept past them in my fabulous pants and one of them whispered, "Mrs. Wickham always has the coolest clothes, doesn't she?"

Thanks to TJ Maxx, I do.