Garden of Eden

Usually I don't get this far into August with many still-unworn clothes left in my closet, but the thrifting has been good this year. By the time I realized the end of summer was upon us, I also realized that I still had many days' worth of summer clothes that I'd never even taken for a spin! So the past week, I've been trying to wear at least one new garment or accessory every day.

Today, to add more challenge to the mix, I decided I simply must wear a dress. I had worn pants on Tuesday, and skirts on Monday and Wednesday, so I felt it was high time to work a one-piece into the week. But my work-appropriate dress collection has been rather small this summer, and the only dress I was in the mood for was this already well worn leafy green one. That meant that my One New Thing for this outfit was going to have to be the shoes.

Fortunately, I had a perfectly coordinating pair of green sandals that would fit the bill. I paid a premium (16$) for these shoes a few weeks ago, because I was feeling the need for a pair of green sandals with a thicker heel, and the heel on these is not only thick, but so enormously deep that it just barely avoids being classed as a wedge. I found it fascinating! So into my cart they went, despite my trepidations about the reptile-skin texture. I'm not a fan of snakeskin, even the fake kind, but just this once, I was willing to overlook it because I loved everything else about the shoes.

But there was one thing I wasn't loving about the outfit I planned with them: it was just too one-note. Green dress, green shoes...even when I go monochrome, I try to incorporate multiple layers and shades of my chosen color, and this look had none of that. I was trying to think of ways to work more color into the outfit when I had my grand idea.

Garden of Eden!

Was it the snakeskin texture on the shoes that inspired me? The pair of snake earrings I found in my Unworn Jewelry Basket? The idea to add some flowers to the dress? I can no longer remember what came first, but before long, I had taken a vague idea and turned it into the most literal interpretation of a theme I think I've ever done, short of a Halloween costume.

To the neckline of the dress, I quickly stitched a couple of fabric flowers I'd salvaged from a friend's old tank top. They add texture, color, and a supporting floral element to the garden-variety botanical print, and they'll be easily removable when I inevitably grow bored with them after one wear.

The shoes, as already discussed, have a snakeskin design, which calls to mind the Biblical serpent. I also put on two snake earrings, even though there is only one serpent in the Garden of Eden story, because I guess every exploration of a theme is allowed a little bit of artistic license. As for the other star players in the tale? Well, you can just call me Eve.