Pretty Pirate

I bought these grey cropped pants last winter (mainly because they were only a dollar), waited to wear them until summer, then couldn't find a single outfit to wear with them.

Meandering on into fall, failing to sell them on eBay, I remembered culottes.  Ever since culottes became the new cool thing, I've been trying to find a way to wear them with knee-high boots underneath. I've heard this was all the rage in the oughties, back when the pants were being called gauchos. I totally missed that trend, and nowadays, fashion runs more toward wearing your culottes with ankle-high boots that show a tantalizingly fleeting sliver of skin. But I'm not really a fan of that look; I feel like eliminating the gap makes your legs look longer (and keeps them warmer), so that's what I'll do. My pants may be a little too narrow to technically qualify as culottes, so wearing them in this outdated manner should be appropriately just-slightly-off.

Despite being neutral in color, these pants gave me some trouble finding complementary tops, so eventually I decided to go with all-over black-and-white for some simple conformity. The black vest breaks up what would otherwise be a very colorblocky look. And of course, the multicolored jewelry was my concession to my all-consuming need for something garish in everything I wear. Altogether, with the high boots, the short "breeches," and the long vest, I kind of remind myself of a pirate captain.

And oh, in case you didn't notice, I cut my hair again. It's time for the quinquennial (yes, I had to look that word up) chop—the one I do about every five years after mainly growing my hair out for a half-decade or so.

My new hair is so fun and bouncy!