Star boots

I never much cared for the taupe patent leather booties. They had the liquid murky look of a mud puddle, and they never seemed to go with any of my outfits. For about a year, I stored them at my boyfriend's sister's house as backup shoes in case of an overnight visit, but when she asked him to move all his stuff out so she could have a usable guestroom, suddenly they were back in my possession. I still loved the shape, and I still hated the color. I also had an idea for what to do with them.

Not too long before the Great Eviction, I had found a pair of boots I absolutely loved on a shopping site. They were in one of my favorite colors (fuchsia) and one of my favorite styles (lace-up) and one of my favorite motifs (stars). I would have bought them on the spot, except for the price, and the fact that they'd be pretty hard to find things to wear with. It's a good thing I waited, because they provided the inspiration for one of the most epic craft projects I ever undertook.

It started in September, when I pulled a can of house paint out of the shed. I was going to cover the taupe booties in a beautiful snow white coating. I thought about painting the zippers white too, but decided that after a couple of zips, most of the paint would be scraped off, and they'd look better in an enduring taupe than a flaking white. So I covered the zippers with duct tape and began.

This phase of the project was long. So long. I usually only had time to paint after I got home from work, and I needed to give the shoes two hours of drying time between coats, which meant that most days, I only got around to adding one coat. And it took a lot of coats to completely obscure the glossy base layer. I actually did not finish painting the boots white until late October. Then the project got derailed by the arrival of Halloween and the necessity of making the most awesome costumes imaginable.

And then after that, I had to delay for another week or so while I got around to finding pink paint for the stars. Then, once I had the paint, I had to make my own stencils.

This was an intimidating task, but eventually I found a star graphic online and printed out a bunch of copies of it in various sizes. Then I traced heavily over the printouts onto some heat-inking labels that I'd acquired from my previous job. Then I cut out the stars with an X-acto knife and waited for yet another week—we were hosting a Thanksgiving party, and I couldn't have shoe-painting detritus all over the house with guests around.


 
Finally, art time came. I deliberately did not look at the picture of the boots that had inspired me, because I wanted these shoes to be an original work. But I did remember that they had had a sort of airbrushed look, which I liked, so I decided to bust out my airbrush (haven't used it since I painted my car 5 years ago) and give it a go.

The strategically random placement of stars took me a couple of days, and when I decided there were enough, I stopped. The airbrushed effect was pretty subtle. I experimented with splatter painting with a brush, but I didn't like the effect, so I let well enough alone.

I finished up the paint job by painting the soles white (I considered pink but decided that would detract from the stars, and I wanted all eyes on them), and then set in on the laces. I had removed the laces before I even started painting the shoes and wrapped them around a lamppost to help smooth out their wrinkles. Now I unwrapped them.

I tossed them in a bowl of bleach mixed with water and let them sit for around a half-hour.

They emerged a pale yellow color that would be much more conducive to dyeing.

When they were dry the next day, I dumped them in another bowl of pink hair dye and a tiny bit of water to thin the dye, mashed them around in it so they would get saturated, and let them sit there (covered with plastic wrap so the dye wouldn't dry out) for several hours. They came out of the dye bath the perfect shade of deep magenta. I was really pleased with the results.

These shoes made their inaugural journey last Saturday, when I wore them to a dark bar where no one saw them. I had intended to go to karaoke, where they would be sure to get the attention that is their due on stage, but unfortunately, karaoke was not in the stars (hahaha) that night.

These boots aren't really made for walking (I know what karaoke song I won't be singing!). As I had feared, the paint is already starting to crack, and the color is smudging, so these delightful shoes won't ever become a wardrobe staple, but I hope I'll get another chance to wear them before they fall apart. 

Summer in January

It's the dreariest time of year, when even an Unfashionista has trouble finding clothes to cheer her up. Since my wardrobe the past couple of weeks has mostly consisted of pants and sweaters in the most uninspiring of combinations, I think it's high time to roll out a blast from the past.

This is an outfit that I put together in August, in anticipation of the release of my new website, which was to have a bright green and pink theme with stars. I had my boyfriend (to whom I owe a great deal of thanks) take me out to the Jefferson Memorial and shoot an infinitude of pictures of me with and without my green and pink electronic devices. Then I waited. For months, during which I did everything but work on the site. Finally, in late December, I got the motivation to finish the website and publish it...so now that it's no longer a secret, I can finally share the outfit that is indubitably the coolest feature of the whole site.

It's a summery explosion of brilliant colors, outré accessories, and of course, stars. Lots of stars.

The shoes are the very same ones which I found guilty of slicing up my ankles (this photo shoot was the first time I wore them, and by the end of an hour, I could barely limp back to the car), but I forgive them because they are just that awesome. How many shoes do you know that are covered with stars?

The skirt is equally starry, and I owe many thanks to my boyfriend for this as well, because he is the one who paid more than I would ever pay for a skirt to purchase it for me (30 dollars, marked down from a hundred or so).

The green tank top is unremarkable, except to some readers who will remain nameless who seem to have an obsession with it.

The hat is one of my favorite accessories, being a ridiculously notice-me shade of pink. I have to wear it as much as I can now, because soon it will be much too passé to take out in public. This one was a gift from my boyfriend as well (I may as well call this post "Thank You Rico")—a not very apropos souvenir of our trip to the National Aquarium.

As a coup-de-grace, I also wore a pair of dangle earrings in the shape of – what else? – Stars!

Reading back over what I've written, I am rethinking my decision to title this post in gratitude to my boyfriend, and instead to call it something like "Outlandish outfits make me speak French", since I can't believe the number of French words I have appropriated in this one post!

I shot for the moon and missed.

If rainbows are my favorite color scheme, stars might very well be my favorite motif. Stars and moons together, though? That's not just my favorite, that's my identity! I'm surprised it's taken me this long to come up with an outfit that combines them both.

I started with the aqua dress, since I haven't touched it all summer, and summer is rapidly ending. I enjoy accessorizing this dress, because it's a solid color that can be worn with almost anything! Last time I featured it, it was with an oceanic theme, so this time I decided to look to the sky instead! I hadn't worn my star sandals enough this year, and I had a silver star necklace waiting in my still-unworn jewelry basket, so a celestial theme was a logical choice.

What really launches this outfit to the next level (possibly to the level of thematic overload, though I personally don't believe in such a thing) is the moon pendant, which I found while digging through the aforementioned jewelry basket. Moon? Stars? A match made in the heavens? Have I reached thematic overload now? Perhaps, but even if it was a failure, it was worth trying.

After all, they always say, "Shoot for the moon," they say. "Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." While anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of astronomy could tell you this is logically flawed advice, it does provide great inspiration...for an outfit, at least!

What's really cool about this whole combination is that I was originally planning to wear two necklaces, one inside the other...but I forgot to bring a chain for the moon pendant. So being the resourceful little Unfashionista I am, I attached the necklace to the dress with a safety pin. Tada! Instant brooch! And it fit there even better than it probably would have done dangling from a chain. Ha! This time I think my terrible aim (read: forgetfulness) certainly landed me among the stars!

S is for Stars & Stripes

Fashion Dog never misses an opportunity to be seen in pictures.

S-Day came just in time for me to finish a small alteration on the new black-and-white striped tunic I picked up at a rummage sale over the summer. So S-Day had to be stripes day!

Unlike argyle or lightning, stripes are common enough that I'd feel a little pitiful only wearing one item to represent them, but oddly, I didn't have anything else in my wardrobe stripey enough (Well, I did have these knee socks, but they were just a bit too crazy for an everyday non-quirky outfit)!

To make up for the weak presentation of stripes, I picked another S-word to round out the day, and, logically, since I have a lot of stars in my clothes, (not to mention "stars & stripes" are a pretty common pairing thanks to the American flag), that pick was stars. 

So it was no struggle to find a pair of star earrings (pictured in selfie below) and a pair of star boots.

If you haven't figured it out by now, my photographer is,
frequently, the same friend who's obsessed with the Miami Dolphins,
and today he quite coincidentally wore a striped shirt
to match both his his team's colors and my theme!

You can't see them in the complete outfit, but when I first got dressed, expecting a relaxing day at home (but turning out to be a crazy day of brunching and drinking and excessive photographing), I wore a pair of Christmas socks, expecting them to be my sole (get it?) footwear option of the day. They are, in fact, the crowning glory of this outfit, featuring both stars and stripes at once!

These Boots

 

Boots with stars are quite overrepresented in my wardrobe, but my newest pair is special, because they're last year's second pair of birthday shoes! Yes, last year. Somehow I managed to wait a year and a couple months between buying these shoes and wearing them, because that perfect occasion I'm always dreaming of took so long to come.

Speaking of taking a long time, I'd been coveting these shoes without taking action for so long that when I finally decided to make my purchase, they were no longer for sale anywhere! After a brief period of mourning, I bought the Mojitos as a consolation prize. Shortly thereafter, I found a used pair on Poshmark, which I explains why I bought myself two birthday presents in 2018. I got these for 85 dollars (plus shipping), making them my cheapest pair of birthday shoes yet!

So anyway, cut to this past Wednesday, the day I finally decided to take these shoes out of hiding. Earlier in the day, I had made a theme out of "darkness," so in the evening, it was a total about-face when I returned to my much more typical M.O. of colors and sparkles galore. The reason for the reversal was karaoke.

I bet you didn't know this, but it's basically an unwritten rule in my book: if you're planning to sing karaoke, you should always plan to wear boots with stars on them!

The last time I blogged an outfit I planned for karaoke, it featured the star boots that I hand-painted.  Of course, that night, I never did sing karaoke, and the boots met their demise very shortly afterwards (lesson learned over the course of many crafting projects, including my Mothra wings: paint on a flexible nonporous surface does not last very long!).

But Friday night was a chance to try again. I was going to a pre-Thanksgiving live karaoke show, and the moment was finally right for glitter-coated boots with metallic shimmering pink stars all over them!

I matched the one non-pink star on the boots with an equally sparkly aqua tank top, donned a pair of white jeans, and topped everything off with some huge star earrings as well. I poofed out my hair like I only do for special occasions, and hit the road!

With all these stars all over me, it was time to act like a star as well as wearing them. It was time for karaoke!

And can you guess what song I sang?

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," of course!

Gold Stars

This winter has dragged on for far too long with far too few warm spells to break it up. Despite several mid-season shopping trips, I've worn through every garment I have that's suited for cold weather.

The one and only thing that continues to add new life to my wardrobe is boots. The fruits of my boot-shopping spree of last fall were finally running out when I went on another one last week. I purchased 3 pairs of over-the-knee boots in a variety of colors, 2 pairs of knee high boots, and one pair of mid-calf boots, which I sincerely hope will last me until spring arrives. Oh, and there was this one pair of denim booties with gold stars that I'd found on eBay a while back.

Denim's basically a neutral, I thought when I bought them, and gold is a neutral too, so surely I won't have any trouble coordinating with these nifty boots! Sometimes my thought processes mystify even me. Unsurprisingly, my so-called "neutral" boots proved way too distinctive for most purposes, until I finally decided to make them the focal point of my outfit.

I would really like to work on my ability to do something other than matchy-matchy, but today was not the day for such experimentation. To go with the indigo denim on the shoes, I wore a darker pair of blue skinny jeans. To go with the gold of the stars, I wore a gold top. My first attempt at this outfit saw me wearing my good old gold tunic sweater, but that wasn't quite good enough. I figured what this outfit really needed was a second layer, so I traded the sweater for a sleeveless blouse and added a long navy cardigan. The flowy cardigan adds interest to the silhouette (as do the dangling waist ties of the top), and the excess of navy made the gold seem that much more precious.

Mastering the art of layering

Last fall, one of my coworkers commented on the weather, saying he likes it when it gets cold out, because then he gets to start wearing layers. My response was, "You're crazy!" First of all, who likes to be cold? Second of all, who likes wearing layers!? More elements you have to match, more fabric you have to struggle with...blech! My idea of layering is strictly 2-dimensional: pants equal the bottom layer, shirt equals the top.

Obviously, layering is not my strong point. But if I want to pass myself off as someone who knows about clothing, I'm obviously going to have to change that. Last Saturday, I got my chance.

In that last lot of clothes I bought on eBay, one of the pieces I was most excited about was this white tank top with stars, red at the top and gradating to purple at the bottom. When I received it, I was so disappointed to find that it was translucent! Clearly (pun intended) I could not wear this top in public. Heck, I could not even wear it to bed! I stashed it away in my box of stuff to resell, but I couldn't bring myself to actually resell it. It was just too awesome! I had to find some way to wear it.

It occurred to me that it was probably designed for the dread purpose of layering, but I hesitated to actually try it out, until Saturday the second of July rolled around. That day, in a bid to make the most of the Fourth of July weekend, my boyfriend and I planned to go to Baltimore for a day of biking and museum-hopping. I needed to wear something that would acknowledge the upcoming holiday, but was not my traditional blue tank top with the white stars that I reserve for the big day itself.

I chose the starry tank top. After trying it on over practically every other tank top in my possession, I chose to wear it with the pink one. I liked the way the straps didn't line up perfectly, so I could show off the fact that I was, indeed, wearing layers. I wore them with the cutoff shorts with the subtle pink trim, which also had come in the last eBay lot. And then, going absolutely pink-crazy, I put a pink bandanna in my hair, which I thought would be suitable for keeping said hair out of my face and protecting my scalp and neck from the sun while biking. The shoes – well – they looked just terrible, so I didn't put them in the picture!

The finishing touch to this whole outfit was the dainty white star earrings that bring it all together to a satisfying conclusion. A special reward, just for the observant.

Stars of the East

Even my eyes are red and green!

Riding home from errands yesterday, I had just one thought on my mind: what to wear to the party that night. It was a housewarming/holiday party, so I knew my kelly green dress would be a great choice, but what would I wear with it?

The dress is pretty short, and I wanted to have something on my legs, because even if we were going to be inside, it was a cold day, and I didn't want to risk getting a chill. When I remembered the pair of tattoo-style star pantyhose waiting unworn in my dresser, I knew I was on the right track—they would be just perfect for a festive holiday theme.

Stars, in my mind, often go hand-in-hand with a punk vibe, but today I wanted to hover at the other end of the spectrum—cultivating a cutesy, innocent look inspired by the Japanese kawaii aesthetic.

So I put on a pair of pastel lacy shoes, curled my bangs, gathered my hair in a soft half-ponytail (I would have curled the ends of that, too, but I ran out of time), and did my makeup in gentle shades of shimmering pink. I finished it all off with eye makeup intended to make my eyes look huge, and it worked! When he saw me, a friend commented that I looked like an "anime girl."

What to wear to an eclipse

I've had these earrings for around 2 years and worn them many a time, but somehow they've escaped ever being pictured in this blog! Odd, because I really adore them!

Well, today was the perfect day to finally put these sun and moon earrings front and center, because today was the day of a solar eclipse! I hadn't originally been planning to dress for an eclipse, but a few weeks ago, I stumbled across an article with suggestions for things to wear (er, spend your life savings on!) to celebrate the occasion. I needed no further prodding. The Unfashionista likes to dress thematically for every holiday, and she might as well do it for every notable natural phenomenon as well!

So when it came time to plan the outfit I would wear on the day of the eclipse, I scoured my closet for anything with a celestial theme. I have no shortage of stars, but even though the sun is technically a star, I wanted something that's more instantly recognizable as the sun. That left me only one thing—these aforementioned sun and moon earrings—which were indeed perfect for the occasion, as a solar eclipse would be nothing without the moon.

Usually when I wear these earrings, I take advantage of the aqua stones and wear them with clothing of a similar hue. But it occurred to me that, for a sun-centric event, I should be wearing warm colors. So I worked with the other color of stone, the pastel peachy one, and wore my salmon-striped sheath for the second time. 

We have reached the part of summer when I've mostly run out of new things to wear and I have to start repeating major outfit elements. I don't prefer to wear the same dress twice in 3 months without doing something drastically different with the rest of the outfit, but since this dress is so hard to coordinate, there wasn't a whole lot I could do, sartorially, to add interest. I would just have to work with what I had, which was basically some pretty cool jewelry and a penchant for puns.

First step: make the earrings the stars of the show. Not only would this allow me to work a feeble astronomy pun into my blog, but it would also serve to strengthen the theme of the outfit. So, instead of allowing my hair to fall in front of the earrings, I pulled it back behind my ears with a couple of barrettes. 

Second step: figure out just one more way to represent the theme. I briefly thought about disassembling some of my many moon necklaces and attaching them to the barrettes, but I decided that would be too hard, not to mention, might look like I was trying too hard!

In the end, I realized my outfit had all the eclipse references it needed, thanks to the barrettes. Now, you might not think that these two ordinary accessories have much to do with astronomical phenomena, but they totally do! They're totally clips of the hair!

Thank you, and good night.

Daffodils

 
I wasn't planning on blogging this (extremely simple, quintessentially corporate) outfit until, near the end of the day, it occurred to me that it would look undeniably charming on a backdrop of bright spring flowers.

Although the weather threw the plant kingdom a curveball this spring (warming up to summery levels and tempting the spring flowers to peep from their winter sanctuaries a little early, then blasting them with snow and ice) at least a few daffodils have managed to retain their regal aspect.

I found a garden in the back of a church that was just perfect for a vernal photo shoot, where I posed with my brilliant yellow dress and matching high heels, sporting a classy but flashy necklace.

That's about all I have to say about today's look. It's the flowers that are the real stars of the show!

I say the flowers are the stars of the show, but....

Future fallen stars

Yet another eBay shopping failure, I bought this dress for $5.86 because I loved the star pattern, even though I wasn't sure I liked the silhouette.

Sure enough, when I got it in the mail, I confirmed that I still hate blousey waists, and the skirt with the longer front and the shorter sides was weird and unflattering. I have plans to convert this dress into something that looks better on me...but there is a good chance that I'll ruin it in the process.

So I thought I would at least wear it just once, as-is, so that the spectacular stars get to shine for a moment before they meet their potential demise.

I did my best to define the waistline by belting it (I actually bought this belt for a dollar to wear with a trench coat, but found that the colors did not match. I thought about getting rid of it but decided I'd keep it only to use as a yoga strap. I'm glad I did, because it was just what I needed to improve this outfit!), but I still feel pretty dowdy in this dress.

And what's the point of trying hard when you're already feeling dowdy? So... flip flops on the feet, my best I-don't-care hair, and...well...I couldn't resist wearing my star earrings.

Red, White, and Blue

 

Monday was the 4th of July, and that means that last Friday was the beginning of IndepenDANCE weekend, and that means it was time to party! A bunch of friends and I were going to an Above & Beyond concert, and I wanted to wear something patriotic.

Normally for an occasion like this, I'd plan a spectacular outfit days in advance, but I was still settling into my new house and just ran out of time. So the evening of the concert, I got off work, rushed home, and scoured my closet. I had various items with stars, others with stripes, and many that were red, white, and blue, but nothing that cohesively produced an Americana vibe.

So I decided to let my makeup be the patriotic focus of this look—once again choosing to wear complicated eye makeup for a dark concert! The last time I made this mistake, I promised myself I'd add blacklight body paint to the mix, and this time I did, drawing hearts and stars and messages all over myself in invisible ink. I don't think it ever showed up at the concert, but if it did, I hope someone appreciated it!

 

 

I also wore the same sequined shoes as that time (and for the last time, because I just sold them yesterday) and then decked the rest of myself out in various white and blue items (and star earrings, of course!). The necklace lights up—a required touch for any EDM concert.

 

The red-rimmed glasses were an especially fortunate accessory, as my boyfriend bought them for me the last time we went to a concert (they make everything you look at sparkly and rainbow-y) and they just happened to coordinate perfectly with this concert's ensemble. Unfortunately, I won't be wearing them again either, as I lost them at the show, along with my credit card, 40 dollars, one of my invisible-ink pens, and most of my dignity. 

At least I looked put-together when I stepped out.

The Unfashionista's Official 2017 trend report

Ahhh, dear readers! It's that time of year when the one person who declares herself entirely unqualified to talk about fashion spends an entire post telling you what's been fashionable for the past year!

This year, I'll divide my list into three classifications: Shoe trends, Clothing trends, and Ornamentation trends.

Shoe trends

I noticed my observations were pretty heavy on the shoes this time around (related, perhaps, to the excess of shoe shopping I did this year which resulted in 1/5 of my shoe collection being acquired in the last six months, and causing it to spill over out of its dedicated closet and into two other areas of my bedroom).

Slides and more slides

From chunky pool slides in the early months to pointy-toed flat mules come fall, the slip-on shoe was big this year. While I had my good fun with furry slides, I restrained myself from purchasing more than one pair because it seemed like they were already on the outs by the time I got them. Flat mules, while still mostly the province of fashion bloggers rather than "regular people," seem to be growing in popularity. But I myself just don't feel like getting any. I always found backless shoes to be a hassle, and the silhouette doesn't really do anything for me.

Ankle straps and lacing

While open-faced lace-up shoes graced my list of 2015 shoe trends, this year I found that around-the-ankle ballerina-style lacing took a front seat. In a similar vein, I've seen a lot of ankle straps. I appreciate how ankle detailing can make or break a trouser length, but straps and laces are hard to work with. After acquiring a couple shoes of this ilk and learning how difficult they are to get on and off (imagine re-lacing your shoes once every hour, as I do to keep myself fit at the office!), my enthusiasm for the lace-up trend is waning quickly.

Sock boots

Boots that are so soft and tight-fitting that they might as well be socks, that's what sock boots are! I'm still kicking myself for finding an overknee sock boot in the thrift store two years ago, and letting a lady talk me out of getting it because it basically looked like a shoe with a sock attached. If I'd gotten it, I could have very cheaply preceded the wave of sock boots that are now the coolest thing since snow. I've gotten a few sock boots this year, most of which I haven't worn yet, but I adore them compared to the alternative, which is the rapidly encroaching oversized slouchy boot.

Clothing trends

There wasn't a lot that really caught my eye in terms of clothing this year. Much of it is basically an extension of trends I mentioned in the past, but I'll briefly summarize a few I noticed.

Statement sleeves

Statement sleeves, which includes the bell sleeves I first noted at the beginning of last year, and expanding to lots of upper-arm bulk and ruffles as well, are still getting bigger—figuratively again, but I wouldn't mind if they did it literally too. I would get a huge (figurative) kick out of a resurgence of floor-length sleeves as seen in the Middle Ages, regardless of their impracticality!

Holey jeans nouveau

While holey jeans were pictured in my fashion review of 2014, I have, unbelievably, never actually featured the trend on its own! Perhaps it's because it has been at least somewhat popular for just basically ever. This year, however, holey jeans were worn in a way that I've never before seen: the enormous gaping holes were decorated from beneath with fishnet tights (again, mostly by fashion bloggers, not the general public). While it's not really my cup of tea, I have to admit that this might be the one way of wearing trashed pants (with something cool underneath!) that I would consider trying.

Shirts with attached chokers

Not too surprisingly, the choker trend of last year made it into clothing this year, with shirts that had built-in chokers at the neckline. This was far from a huge trend, but it's something I've never seen done before, so I felt it was at least worth mentioning.

Ornamentation trends

Ornamentation was where it was at for 2017. While silhouettes didn't vary much from last year to this one, I noticed a lot of commonality in terms of how things were decorated.

Themes

One interesting motif this year is the cactus. I didn't see it a ton, but just often enough to notice it. Stars, a more common embellishment in general, seem to have appeared much more often. To some extent, this may be my penchant for stars that calls me to admire them whenever I see them, but I feel like they were more popular globally in 2017. This was also, definitively, the year of the unicorn. While I am proud to say I loved unicorns before they were cool (for proof, see my Halloween costume from 2012, or the unicorn socks I was wearing in 2010), 2017 was the year unicorns reached market saturation ("unicorn hair" and the "Unicorn Frappuccino" are just a few of the relics of this year's unicorn frenzy). A number of unicorn-themed garments and accessories made their way into my ultra-low price range the past few months, which must mean the bubble is about to burst.

Embellishments

As far as 3-dimensional decorations go, it was small fluffy things all the way. I saw a preponderance of tassels and fur pom poms, especially on shoes and jewelry. I can take them or leave them, and have so far managed to leave them.

Definitely the number-one trend that defined 2017 for me was embroidery, mostly of the floral sort. While it started with a couple of shirts and bras with embroidery patches popping up frequently in my eBay searches, it grew to appear just about everywhere! In addition to being the defining trend for 2017, it's also my favorite, although, being my thrifty and crafty self, I have refrained from buying anything embroidered, in favor of making my own. This has caused me to be a little late to the party, but I'll get there! I promise!

Future trends

Every year, I usually express a couple wishes/predictions for the year ahead. This year, I'm putting my money on flip flops—not beach sandals, which will always have their place (at the beach!), but thong-style sandals (preferably with a platform) to be worn for more everyday and semi-dressy occasions. Dress flip flops are currently totally passé. I was buying heavily discounted pairs in 2011 (sure sign of a decline in their popularity), and had completely eliminated them from my collection by 2016...so that means it's surely time for them to come back! Shower slides were really popular in the late 90's, and flip flops came a few years after. And guess what's pretty popular now? Shower slides! Guess what's coming next! This is not to say I think flip flops will actually rise to ascendancy by the end of 2018, but that it's a good time to stock up if we find a bargain, so our future selves can be ahead of the curve!

The big bang

I found this star-spangled dress at my last thrift store run. It was around 3 dollars after a 50% discount, and it was right up my star-loving alley! Unfortunately, when I tried it on in the store, I tried it over my pants, and thus did not get an adequate picture of just how tight and revealing it would be in real life.

When I went to wear it for the first time, I was dismayed to find that it clung to my butt and thighs with a level of tenacity entirely unbecoming to a professional woman on the job.

The good thing about this dress was that it was a wrap dress, which meant it had an entire layer of fabric hidden from view, which I could use to expand the tight parts.

I cut into the inner layer, repositioned the outer layer, and added about 1.5 inches to the total girth where it was clinging the most. Pictures, unfortunately, completely fail to convey the steps I took to fix the fit of this dress, so you'll just have to trust me that it looked worse before, and I fixed it!

 

It's still very thin, and I have to wear a slip underneath to keep my undies from showing, but I no longer feel indecent wearing it to work!

I saved the dress for a Friday Funday—when you want the week to go out with a bang, what's a bigger bang than The Big One? (i.e. the birth of the universe, i.e. the origin of stars, in case the connection wasn't clear!) To make the biggest bang possible, I wore mirrored boots. I have acquired loads of star-themed jewelry over the past few months, so I had my pick of necklaces and earrings. I decided to mix metals and wear a gold necklace to contrast with all the silver in the rest of the outfit.