The lulumumu

/ aginggracefullymyass

mumu2

A couple of months ago an article somebody shared on Facebook screamed “Read me!” Who was I to argue with the vast knowledge and sage wisdom of Facebook?  But I’m glad I read it.  I discovered that the latest casual fashion trend for women is wearing workout-type clothes to do shopping, run errands, and general “stuff”.

BINGO!!

Finally the rest of the world is coming around to my notion of fashion where the stretchy waistband is king!  Long live Spandex!

Then I read the rest of the article.  You know there had to be a “rest of the article”.  It’s just not any workout-type clothes that women are tooling around in.  It’s high fashion, high price tag-type designer workout clothes.  Your lululemons, Alo Yogas, Bia Brazils…

Major buzz kill.

I like casual clothing.  Ever since I quit my hamster-wheel corporate job nearly ten years ago, I’ve worn pretty much nothing but casual clothes.  Loose fitting, stretchy, comfy clothing.  They give everything a chance to “breathe”, if you know what I mean. It’s healthier.  Tight stuff just doesn’t get enough oxygen to the areas of your body that need it.  Tight stuff can cause issues.  I’m pretty sure there’s no scientific evidence for that.  Let’s just say I have anecdotal evidence.  TMI.

But as much as I love really comfortable, loose clothing,  as God as my witness,  I will never, ever again wear a mumu.  Das ist verboten.  I have bad flashback episodes of women in their 50‘s & 60’s wearing mumu’s when I was growing up in the 1960’s.  It was pretty traumatizing for a young girl.

I sewed a mumu for myself for a tropical themed school dance when I was in 8th grade. In the name of all that’s holy, what was I thinking?  I looked like Shrek covered with a large orange floral tablecloth.  My date was enchanted I’m sure.  Oh – we never went out again…

For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, a mumu is basically yards and yards and yards of usually large floral print fabric with sleeves and a collar.  You can either wear a mumu or go camping with it and use it as a tent.  Think of them as anti-lululemon outfits.

But then again, retro is in style again.  Maybe they could come out with a lulumumu. Slap that little curly-q horseshoe on it and I bet it would sell for big $$.  I hear designers are stealing people’s ideas from Pintrest.  Hmmmm…  If you see the lulumumu in the stores in six months, just remember you heard it on AGMA first.

But I do have a lot of athletic-type clothes because I run.  Will I start wearing them just around for the heck of it?  Probably not.  I’d look pretty goofy.  Every woman pictured wearing the gear on the websites of the designer workout clothing is incredibly fit, young, skinny, relatively flat-chested and looks tall.

To say that this does not fit the AGMA profile would be a gross understatement.  I possess none of these attributes.

But I have a good personality and a cute little donkey, so I got that going for me…

49 thoughts on “The lulumumu”

  1. Funny post . I shudder every time I think about those mumu’s. I don’t know who was responsible for that trend but I’m glad it’s buried never to surface again.

    Like

    Reply

  2. My mother use to wear a mumu all the time in the 70’s. Especially in the summer. The memory of which did have an affect on me, but with therapy and psychotropic medications I’ve been able to lead a reasonably normal life.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  3. Oh my God! The muumuus and the “caftans”….I will never complain about casual wear again….if it means that there will be no return of those clothing options!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh no!! I spelled muumuu wrong like 40 times… How incredibly embarrassing! I’ve been a horrible speller all my life so spell check has been a godsend for me. Evidently I chose to ignore spell check for this post. My face is sooooo red right now! I wonder if it was a passive-agressive thing….?

      Thanks for your comment AND for oh so diplomatically spelling muumuu correctly, hoping that I might figure it out!

      Like

      Reply

  4. Dear AGMA,

    I had never heard of a mumu before, so I cannot relate to trauma, but I vividly remember going to the loo dressed in a jumpsuit. There was this ackward moment when I had to hold on to the shirt to prevent it from falling into the bowl or rushing in only to be slowed down by all the buttons I had to undo or the flyer getting stuck or… well, you get the picture.

    Shopping yesterday made me smile because, when I saw some of the dreaded jumpsuits on the racks, I thought that this was one piece of my yesteryears my daughter will experiment. Oh the fun!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Most of my running stuff is from Target or TJMaxx! They have great gear for a totally decent price. I’m so glad I don’t have to wear that corporate stuff anymore. I think at one time I liked it, but I was young and foolish. 🙂

      True confessions – I am a terrible speller and I spelled muumuu incorrectly. I hang my head…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. The memories..my mother on the beach, mumu and picture hat. She would burn, freckle and peel, so covered as much skin as she could. She hated the beach, but we went there on almost every vacation. It must have been hell for her.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • So the she had a practical use for her muumuu (notice I corrected my horrible misspelling of muumuu. Sorry ’bout that!) which is permissible. Makes total sense if she couldn’t be out in the sun without getting fried! I bet she loved watching you and your siblings have fun though which is what you kept going back to the beach… Mom’s are like that! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • After some pressure, they moved their vacations to the mountains, where family had a summer cabin. The younger siblings had to go seek the ocean on their own as teens. ☺

        Like

    • So I spelled muumuu wrong throughout my whole post, so if you Google muumuu, you might actually get a result! I’m just so embarrassed.

      Honestly, I’d heard of lululemon, but had to look up some of the other expensive, designer brands to add to the list. I am very uncool. And a bad speller.

      Yeah – I just Googled poopoos and it’s exactly what I expected. But honestly, wouldn’t that make a great brand name? Just sayin’…

      Like

      Reply

  10. When I was a kid, my mother wore house dresses. Very similar to mumus, but less flashy. They were probably the forerunner of mumus. However, she would never, ever wear her house dress out in public. It was, after all, a house (only) dress. Great post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks! Yes – I’m pretty sure that house dresses and muumuu’s are kissing cousins. My step-mother had some house dresses and you’re right – NEVER outside the house. And how much do you love that I spelled muumuu wrong through my whole post? Duh…. Sorry!

      Like

      Reply

    • I’m sure they were cooler in hot weather because of the “circulation”. Hell, you could sew a small fan in the hem and never need air conditioning!

      And speak for yourself on the leggings… I have some and have tried to wear them a few times, but I just couldn’t subject the rest of the world to the sight. It was really pretty awful. Once you get that cottage cheese butt, leggings are pretty much out of the equation. Ugh.

      True confessions – I am a terrible speller and I spelled muumuu incorrectly throughout my entire post. I hang my head…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Yikes! I had a muumuu once when I was about twelve. (We had a backyard pool and tropical landscaping, so reasons.) I looked like Hilo Hattie. I think the muumuu was invented by Christian missionaries who came to Hawaii and were scandalized by the native women and promptly tried to cover them up. (So what else is new?)

    Trends come and go, but the one that worked for me when I was about the same age was what they called the “Sack Dress.” Basically a drop waisted dress that looked vaguely 1920ish. Since I’m short-waisted, it was a real boon for me. That fad only lasted about a year, sadly.

    I love workout wear too. Walmart has some very nice styles that don’t cost a (flabby) arm and (wrinkly) leg.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • And I have another wonderfully diplomatic reader who, instead of pointing out that I misspelled muumuu throughout my whole post, just spelled it properly in their comment. And hoped I’d notice. I did and boy, do I feel sheepish! Baaaa…. Thanks for being gentle!

      I think I missed the Sack Dress thing and I’m sorry. I’m short waisted as well and I NEVER wear anything that has a belt at the waist. I look like an hourglass. Not in a good way (if there is a good way to look like an hourglass).

      Like

      Reply

  15. My husband read this post before me and he fell out laughing. Down here we call those mumus “housedresses” probably because that’s the only place they should be worn.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. Oh – I love that your husband liked the post!! Makes me 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!

    I do understand that loose fitting clothes in hot weather are much cooler and that they make some practical sense. You know I’m all about the air flow and circulation… Gotta get that O2 to those “special” places!

    And, again, true confessions – I spelled muumuu wrong in my whole post. Sorry about that! But I don’t think I’ll go back and edit it. It’ll be a reminder to me to NEVER ignore spellcheck again!

    Like

    Reply

  17. “incredibly fit, young, skinny, relatively flat-chested and looks tall.”

    Well, I’m flat chested and tall. Two out of five ain’t bad!

    I too am all for comfy clothes, but a muumuu? I’d rather wear prison garb.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Talk to me...