If there's one thing that defines my mostly undefinable style of dressing, it's that I love my fashion to be over-the-top. Strawberry jewelry, weird high-heeled tennis shoes, dresses festooned with parrots—I have it all. The one thing I don't have a lot of is the basics.
A
few years ago, I basically stopped buying wardrobe essentials in favor
of an entire closet full of statement pieces. Solid-colored T-shirts?
Nah! If it wasn't covered with patterns and glitter (or at least
multiple layers of texture), I wasn't going to "waste my money" on it.
(Well, that's not entirely true; I've always kept my closet stocked with
every possible style of neutral pants, so I guess my craziness craze is limited to tops alone.)
It
was only this year that I realized this kind of puts my wardrobe in a
severe deficit. How can I properly create an outfit with my funkiest
skirts, if the only shirts I have are equally funky in completely
different ways? I needed some simple pieces that could be worn with
everything. So a few weeks ago, I put a new item on my shopping list:
"solid T-shirts in every color"!
With
my new arsenal of basics, I hoped to be able to whip any flamboyant
bottom out of my closet, and instantly pair it with a coordinating and
flattering top, saving me the agony of trying it on with every shirt in
my closet only to find that nothing looks right.
I
started on May 13 with a white T-shirt, a supposedly essential garment
(according to a lot of the fashion articles that I read) which I haven't owned since I converted my last one into a shrug back in 2011. In the same Swap.com [referral link] order, I also got the brown one that can be seen crowning my outfit today.
Before
I started on this purchasing mission, I had to do a lot of
soul-searching. You see, at this time in fashion history, fitted
T-shirts are not in style. You need look no further than the first page
of listings on Polyvore (my most trusted source for shopping trends, and also frequently for the pictures that I use on my year-end fashion reviews)
to see it: big and drapey and half-tucked into your skinny jeans is
where it's at.
But I, though I try hard to get on board with the fashion
zeitgeist, just can't seem to make this style work for me (it's a
big-shoulders thing). My tastes will always run to the
loose-on-the-bottom-tight-on-the-top aesthetic (with shorter sleeves
than are currently in vogue). Which means I had to swim against the
tides of fashion and invest in a whole wardrobe full of unstylish
shirts. Well, that's what makes me an Un-fashionista!
Somehow
I managed to eschew my love for sparkles and all things embellished
long enough to get a couple of basic and thoroughly un-trendy T-shirts
for my collection—just so I could accessorize one with all the sparkles I
could get my hands on! I wore a shiny new silver heart locket (get the
"love" reference in my post title!?), which supposedly glows in the
dark. I got it thinking I'd eventually wear it to a rave, but that never
happened after over a year, so I decided to stop saving it for the
special occasion that would never come.
For even more sparkles, I wore
my now-familiar batik skirt with the sequined trim,
and a pair of glitter-encrusted low-heeled shoes, which I got for 20$
from H&M in late March and have been wearing the dickens out of,
even though I haven't yet posted any outfits featuring them. At least
the shoes are only one season out!
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| What makes every fashion picture cuter? The surprise addition of a dog! |
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| And cuter still? Two dogs! |
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