Shopping with the Unfashionista

It all started with an old floral skirt.

The Unfashionista (who will be speaking in third person today for some unfathomable reason) had sold off all the short-sleeved tops that matched it last year, and wanted something new – lightweight for summer, modest for work – so she could bring her old standby (7 years young and still fresh as a sunflower...minus the part of it that had gotten caught in her bike tire and now sports a few blackish streaks. More on this topic of skirts and bike tires later.) back into active duty.

She went out on a shopping trip, intending to hit up Shopper's World for their reliable (if slightly low-quality) collection of 3-to-4$ polyester T-shirts. But when an Unfashionista shops, she shops hard. And when she passed Burlington Coat Factory on the way there, she thought, "Why not?" It's never a bad idea to look for bargains. It's a good thing she did, because she hit the bargain jackpot!

Check out how many markdown stickers have been slapped
on these babies! Looks like they were just waiting for an
Unfashionista (who doesn't mind repairing some damaged
beadwork) to come rescue them!

She moseyed through the purses, but rejected them all for being too "bulgy" or having too much metal. She perused the hats on clearance, but they were too pricey. She wandered through the jewelry and came across a set of pastel-colored aluminum bangles. She'd been wanting some bangles (she had some, but they were in colors that never seem to match anything). These bangles were full-price (5$), and she just wasn't certain they were worth the investment. But then she noticed the sandals. White beaded flip-flops for just 3 dollars! She'd been wanting some semi-dressy flip-flops all year, and the price was unbeatable. That decided her on the bangles. If you're going to spend, might as well do it wholeheartedly!

The Unfashionista never shops in the full-price aisles, but heads right for the clearance department. And there it was that she discovered the 7$ paisley dress (vaguely mod, vaguely hippie, very her style) and the 4$ short-sleeved black sweater. She doesn't usually go for short-sleeved sweaters because they're not warm enough in winter and too hot in summer, but this one was lightweight enough, she thought it might work).

If this sweater were not so black, you could see the details like the cowl neck (crazy feature--never sure what to do with one) and the adorable bow at hip level (bows...some day I will learn to tie them so they don't lie sideways). Those sleeves, though...awkward. I may have to trim them a little at the bottom so it doesn't look like some frilly muscle shirt.

She saw some other things that were a great price but sadly looked terrible on her. She was tempted by other things that were not a great price (15$ blue top that looked awesome, but was definitely too fancy for her lifestyle, and 12$ embroidered black top which looked even awesomer but was fortunately too small).

Following this, she made her way to the checkout aisle, where she disliked all the sunglasses. Fashion tip: If you have a small head and chubby cheeks, oversized glasses are not for you.

Finally it was time for the purpose of the trip: a cheap yellow T-shirt. Indeed, Shopper's World did not disappoint, and the Unfashionista found just what she was looking for. And so all the delightful shopping of the entire morning culminated in the outfit you now see, in all its blurry finery, to the right.