BETWEEN THE LINES: SEARCH FOR PERFECT BLOUSE, LIKE PERFECT SWIMSUIT, CONTINUES

Essentially, I want a replica of my favorite white shirt and nothing less will do.

Finding great clothes is a difficult task. I'm talking about finding that perfect outfit that makes you feel your best or most comfortable every time you wear it. It isn't an easy pursuit. Ask any woman who's ever tried on blue jeans or a bathing suit and she'll confirm this to be true.

Trying to find the perfect pair of jeans is not nearly as difficult as trying to find a swimsuit, but neither of those are my latest complaint. My latest clothing problem has been trying to find a new white blouse.

It sounds like such a simple task that you'd think I'd have no problems. I mean, how hard can it really be to find a 100 percent cotton blouse? It's sort of like the quest for the "little black dress" that women can wear anywhere. The optimist in me tells me that it's possible, but apparently it's going to be more difficult than I ever imagined.

I have a selection of white blouses hanging in my closet, but not just any one of them will do. There are some blouses that are only suitable for summer attire, while others can be worn with jeans and still others that work well under suit jackets.

But I'm looking for the all-occasion, all-purpose, white blouse that can conquer all my clothing challenges. That's proven taxing. I've been looking for this blouse on and off for months now, but to no avail.

I thought I'd found the perfect replacement for my favorite white shirt in St. Louis just weeks ago. But it turned out the buttons were a little larger than I'd hoped they would be so I rejected it. Essentially, I want a replica of my shirt and nothing less will do.

Nearly everyone has a favorite T-shirt, sweatshirt or pair of jeans, I happen to have a favorite white shirt. For many people, these favorite clothes are the garments that are falling apart at the seams because they've been worn and laundered once too often. You don't really like to be seen in public wearing them because they look like they've come from the rag bag. My white shirt fits that bill.

This shirt I love dearly and cannot bear to part with. I've owned the shirt for so long I don't even remember buying it. It's been around long enough to have collected some holes. There are so many holes and tears across the front that it looks as if it was riddled with bullets. I've patched up the rips in the sleeves as best I can, but there's little I can do for the pockets and front. It's getting so worn that I hate to wear it or wash it anymore. You have to treat this garment very delicately, I've discovered. It's life expectancy is getting shorter.

And as the days pass my search for a replacement grows. I've scanned local retail shops and even some secondhand clothing stores but nothing seems right. I think maybe it's the guilt I'm feeling about having to replace my favorite shirt with another, perhaps inferior, garment.

I know you shouldn't really get this attached to your clothing, but as the saying goes "The clothes make the man." I figure that saying holds true across gender lines, which is why I'm putting forth such an effort.

I figure that if I can find just the right blouse, maybe the rest of my life will fall into place too. It might not happen, but it sounds good in theory.

And in theory, the perfect white shirt exists and if my luck goes well, it's hanging on a sale rack at some department store. Now I just have to find it.

Laura Johnston is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.