Sock boots and backup stash

I set a little Fashion Challenge last week, to wear something new or refashioned every day for work. It was a four-day week, so it couldn't be so hard, right?

Tuesday it was my Ultra Violet shirt, Wednesday the green blazer, Thursday the navy sweater, and so all was well, right up until Friday. Friday, I had big plans to wear a cute casual outfit featuring my new burgundy velvet sock boots.

If you have been keeping up with my long-winded years-in-review, you know that both sock boots and velvet boots have been ruling the footwear roost for a while now. I craved a pair of velvet sock boots over a year ago, yet by early this fall, the closest I had come was a suede sock boot (still never worn). Getting desperate, I searched Google Shopping for the term, and finally found a slick burgundy pair just under my maximum price at Forever 21.

 

I was fairly surprised when the entire month of December afforded me zero opportunities to wear this classically Christmas-colored shoe, so for the new year, I resolved to get it out of its box and onto my foot as soon as possible.

Cut to Friday, the day I'd selected to finally wear these boots! I won't bore you with the details of what I originally chose to wear with them, because I didn't wear it. When I got to the office, I realized my wardrobe was malfunctioning in a major way!* Although it wasn't the too-revealing type of wardrobe malfunction, I looked unkempt and completely below my standards. I was annoyed with myself and sad, for a minute, until I realized that this misfortune was the perfect opportunity for me to showcase my Backup Stash.

Backup Stash? You ask. What's that? Well, let me tell you!

Years ago, I started keeping extra clothes at the office in a side drawer of my desk. At first, it was basically just workout clothes, back when I used to sometimes visit the gym after work. Over time, I realized it might be helpful to keep an extra pair of socks and underwear. Maybe a sweater, in case I get cold. A blazer, in case I have an unexpected meeting. Flat shoes, for unplanned across-campus walks. Etc. Etc. Over the years, I have completely filled that drawer with clothes and shoes that might come in handy in an emergency situation. They are usually things that I have retired from everyday wear, so they tend to fit poorly or be out of style, but better that than walking around all day with a huge stain on your pants, right?

The backup stash saved the day for my Fall Florals post a year ago, but I've never before worn garments from the stash so prominently as I did on Friday. What a momentous day!

I was already wearing leggings, so it made sense to wear a dress—I keep a black-and-white sheath dress in the stash. The dress has no sleeves, so I topped it off with the blazer from the stash.  A little too large, a little wrinkly, but still better than my original outfit!

I deliberately limit my stash to mostly black items so they'll look OK with almost anything else I might be wearing, and it paid off for this outfit. My burgundy velvet sock boots didn't look out of place at all, in spite of being worn with clothes that were completely unplanned! Fashion Challenge, complete!

*I told you I wouldn't bore you with this, but if your curiosity is too much for you (as it was for me when I read this post through the eyes of someone else), here's what happened: I wore a black dress that I'd cut up and trimmed with lace on the bottom. The cheap lace edge was clinging to my leggings and causing the whole dress to bunch up around my thighs. The previous night, I'd attached weights to the hem to keep it down, and while this helped, I only tested it out over my pajama pants, which were apparently a much less snaggy texture than the leggings. When I got to work, I found that not only was the dress still bunching up, but you could see the weights very clearly through the lace.