If
you're looking for hippie clothing, you need look no further than any
boutique shopping district, where you're bound to find a store or two
specializing in the myriad distinctive fashions that define the
flower-child aesthetic. Oh, wait, you're saying that stores in boutique
shopping districts charge an arm and a leg for their wares? Well, then
you need look no further than your friendly neighborhood
secondhand-clothing website, Swap.com! (as usual, link is a referral link).
From
this website, I've managed to acquire a whole host of crocheted,
macrame'd, beaded, batik'd, and otherwise earth-mother-approved
clothing, at prices even someone living out of a VW Microbus could
afford! Today, I was able to combine two of them into one perfect
outfit.
On the
bottom is a pair of cropped, wide-legged pants. You can tell they're
meant for the all-natural set by their cotton material, smocked waist,
and waistband tie. What waistband tie, you say? Well, I didn't like the
way it looked tied at the front, so I reversed it to tie at the back! I
have to say I really like this look, and I might have to try this trick
more often!
The
pants weren't always cropped; they originally fell quite awkwardly just
around my ankles, and looked terrible with almost all pairs of shoes.
If you want to see these pants as they were originally intended, they're
for sale here for 30$. I got mine for just three! [Fun Fact: These pants are also the source of the coconut sarong tie I used in my multi-purpose poncho
outfit!] When I first got them, I wasted a lot of time wetting and
stretching them, trying to wheedle a little more length out of them,
only to have them revert to their incredibly stumpy original proportions
the next time I washed them.
That was enough of that! This summer, I
gave up on ever wearing them as long pants and hemmed them to this new
length. Since I made the change reversible, it was a low-risk move, and a good one, because this marks the first time, in the
year-plus that I've owned them, that I've ever found them flattering
enough to photograph!
It
doesn't hurt that the top I wore with them was almost perfectly
coordinated. This one, too, bears all the hallmarks of neo-hippie
fashion: batik designs on rayon fabric, a sort-of patchwork
construction, wooden toggles, and a timeless silhouette. Judging from
the style, I suspect that this particular garment is a relic of the
90's, but clothing like this has never been mainstream, so therefore you
can wear it in any era without running the risk of looking outmoded
(you do run the risk of looking weird, but that's a risk I love to
take!). It, too, cost me three dollars.
This
top is probably intended to be a vest, meant for layering, but also
works on its own, though it's a little low-cut for the office. I wore a
beige lace bandeau underneath it for decency, and repeated the flesh
tones with (earthy hemp-rope-and-canvas, naturally) beige wedge sandals.
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