The ex-X top

So I had this striped top. I've owned it for a few years now (It came to me as a companion to the black skirt-pants I first wore in 2017), and in all those years, all I wanted to do was sell it.

It was so cool in theory—form fitting, with black and white stripes, and a totally unique design with bands of the same fabric layered across the front in an X shape! 

I loved it; however, on me, it just fit too tight (Indonesian sizing strikes again!), and the X's tended to bunch up around my neck and over my chest in a most unflattering manner!

New with tags, I thought it would sell for a decent price, but I had it listed on eBay for quite a while without any signs of interest from the masses. Eventually I de-listed it and decided to have one more shot at making it work for me.

My first step was to remove the sleeves. As always, my extra-wide shoulders stretched them awkwardly, an effect which was only exaggerated by the horizontal stripes.

It looked much better as a sleeveless top, but the problem of the crisscrossing straps remained. I really wanted them to work...but they didn't! Eventually I accepted the inevitable and cut the front X off at each side of the waist, leaving it attached at the top.

Wow! Magically, it now had a cute little pussy-bow neckline, which was just what this ordinary striped top needed to give it some flair!

I had to sew the panels down at the shoulders to keep them in the right position, and that was the only stitchery this project required!

Now that the shirt has gone from having an X in the front to not, I can call it my ex-X top (interestingly enough, it was given to me by the mother of my former boyfriend, so there are all sorts of exes in this story!)

It has a sort of cutesy old-fashioned look that calls to my mind the late 50's, when pedal pushers were an integral part of every teen's uniform (I'm thinking "Bye Bye Birdie" cast photos). So I wore it with my cropped lavender pants! Lavender accessories and shoes rounded out the look.

The shirt still has crisscrossed panels in the back, which I do like...but which I might choose to remove later, as they tend to pull the top of the arm openings in towards my neck, meaning constant adjustment is necessary. If I cut them off, I'll have some extra black-and-white striped fabric that would make an adorable matching headband, completing my "Bye Bye Birdie" look!

A flat worse than death

In 2017, I claimed I "would rather die than wear sneakers when I could wear heels."

Cut to 2 years later, and I've downsized pretty much all my heels (I just counted, and slightly over half of the shoes on my shoe rack now have a rise of 2 inches or less) and am now making sneakers the focus of my OOTD. 

I suppose it was inevitable, with my office wardrobe getting more casual by the month, that sneakers for work would be a logical step in the progression. Would I still rather die than wear sneakers? Heck no! Especially not if they're (a) velvet, (b) bedazzled, (c) platform, or (d) metallic.

You're probably guessing what comes next: over the past year, I purchased sneakers in all of the aforementioned styles! I guess I accepted my fate as a wearer of athleisure footwear.

I have to say, for something that I formerly ranked below death in order of preference, sneakers have made me pretty happy.

These new blue ones in particular are quite comfy (my new gold standard for a great shoe!), flattering (I think it's the thick sole and fabric that help balance my foot proportions), and made of velvet! What's an Unfashionista not to love!?

I decided to wear my new cozy kicks on the first chilly day since spring (Forecast: 72°). Cold weather is always more tolerable when you've got new exciting clothes to keep you warm! The cropped pants paired excellently with the shoes, and the top, while nothing to write home about, rounds out the look with a variety of colors.