Clothing Style

My clothing style... casual, sporty, preppy.  I don't think there's a name for it because I myself don't even know my style anymore.  It was so simple when I lived in Florida, it was hot hot hot, so that meant less what better.  Less was also easier.  A fun tank top, a pair of denim shorts, flips-flops, maybe some jewelry and I was done.  I didn't live in NYC or LA, I didn't have to think about being trendy or stylish.  Plus I weighed a lot less (a lot younger), making it easy to buy clothes and look nice in everything.  Then I moved to the Netherlands, where I consider the women to be quite stylish/trendy (not all of my friends agree, I would never survive where they're from).  For years I refused to buy clothes here, their style was far from mine.  Over time I started to give in, even though I look ridiculous in most of the Dutch clothes.  I've figured out a way to combine the Dutch and American clothes so that when I leave the house I still have an ounce of confidence left.  One of the biggest issues I have with style/trends is it's impracticality.  As you might have read in many of posts, I walk a lot, and everywhere.  When it's an hour round trip to take my daughter to toddler swimming class, do you really think I'm going to bust out the heels?  I get sweaty, it rains often, do you think I want to risk messing up any of my nice clothes or jackets?  I have a 2 1/2 yr old - I get dirty often, I'm home a lot, and I'm constantly cleaning or running errands; most trendy clothes just don't suit these situations.  Plus, I'm frugal (cheap), I don't want to wear my expensive clothes to run to the grocery store or to drop my kid off at school.  So this leaves me wearing jeans and cotton shirts most everyday.  I went to a birthday party recently and as I looked around at the Dutch women they were all dressed in some version of the same outfit.  A blazer or short leather jacket, a scarf, skinny jeans, and some type of ankle length shoes.  The scarf; I don't understand how they all do it, it would drive me crazy, I would feel as if I were being choked the entire time.  And the skinny jeans; it took me forever to understand this trend, I like loose fitting jeans and dare I say it, boot-cut.  But like I said, I occasionally try out the trends, and for the life of me, I can't find a pair of skinny jeans that fit me right.  I have decent legs, you'd think skinny jeans would suit me, but I also have a decent size midriff thanks to having a child and my eating habits.  And in order to get the pants to fit my waist, the legs end up being too loose.  My sister-in-law loves fashion and trends.  She looks nice, it looks fun, but there are few outfits of hers I would ever wear.  She tries to help me, she'll dress me up, put me in front of the mirror and wow, I look ridiculous.  How does an outfit that looks so trendy on one person look so silly on me?  It's not that I don't have the confidence to wear it, it's just not me.  I went to a party over the Christmas holidays, I gave in, dressed a bit more on the Dutch side, everyone noticed, everyone complimented me... and when I got home the first thing I did was strip it off because I was outrageously uncomfortable.  I put on my jeans, a tank top, a zip-up sweatshirt (all American Eagle, the only brand I truly love), and I could breath and relax again.  I'm not blind to style and fashion, even though my outfit choices might appear that way sometimes.  I look at websites and store fronts, they have so many great ideas.  But they also have so many layers and accessories.  I'm not on the thin side, and I'm constantly hot, layers are the last thing I want to wear.  My mother loves shopping, fashion, and make-up, what happened to me?  Don't think I'm not vain, because I can be.  I might be dressed casual but I'm always clean and have on make-up, I wouldn't leave the house otherwise.  (There is only one day a week I leave the house without make-up, toddler swimming  class days.)  I wonder if I'll ever find my style again... it's not just the move here that's changed my views on style, I'm getting older, what used to be acceptable no longer is.  Sometimes I flip threw my clothes and wonder how it's possible to own so many t-shirts with logos (long & short sleeve) or so many polo's, where are the blouses?  I try, and I try, I order a million things from H&M, keep one thing and ship the rest back.  H&M is one of the few places I shop in the Netherlands, mostly I count on my birthday or Christmas and the jeans my Mom mails me!  I keep telling myself once I have a car and will not be forced to walk everywhere my time will come... I'll be able to dress impractical and stylish, and will not have to worry about being hot and/or the climate conditions.  But until then, everyone is just going to have to deal with my boring, "relaxed" style.  I found a picture from dixi3chik/Polyvore, it's the closest thing to how I dress (and unbelievably, it's considered country, wow, didn't see that coming - my husband's probably chuckling right now).