Look o' the Irish

I love the color green. My favorite colors come and go, but green always stays close to the top of the list. And I just recently acquired two new green articles of clothing that I had yet to wear, so naturally I was pretty thrilled when Saint Patrick's Day rolled around.

I wore them both together in one verdant outfit that could only be described as magical! I'd like to add that I also wore some leg warmers, which I haven't had the guts to put on since last year since they seem to have already gone out of style—but I saw someone else sporting some just today, so I guess they haven't completely lost their charm yet.

I wish I could tell you how the public reacted to this outfit, but alas, the public never saw it. My St. Patrick's Day evening was spent waiting in the subway, riding in a car, looking for parking, sitting in an deserted pizza restaurant, arriving at a bar just as it was closing, and finally going home.

Pants is not a four-letter word

After years of only feeling pretty when wearing a skirt or dress, I seem to be on a pants kick. Maybe it's the fact that I've had it up to here (here = higher than my waistband) with winter and just want to be warm! But in any case, I'm wearing a lot of pants.

The first time I wore this sweater dress (back when I worked in a grocery store), one of my coworkers told me, "I like your dress!" Dress? Up until that point, I'd just thought of it as an extra-long sweater. And I was wearing it with jeans.

Well, once I started working in an office and my wardrobe no longer had to be limited to what was "sensible," I never wore this dress over pants again (leggings, yes). But of all my dresses, it is the best candidate for being worn over pants, thanks to its somewhat shorter length. So that's what I did with it.

Choosing a pair of pink pants and matching pink jewelry (and also being pretty pleased with my hair after taking it out of a French braid), I had a pants-based outfit that, again, made me happier than any frilly frock I  might have pulled out of my closet.

Go Brown!

I never thought I'd get excited over an all-brown outfit that prominently featured tapered pants, but if there's one thing I've learned from writing this blog, it's that you should never say never.

When I planned out my outfit on Sunday, it featured a dress, but I was so unenthusiastic about that, I had to rethink it. What I came up with made me so excited, I could hardly wait for Monday to arrive!

Yes, I was trembling with anticipation of wearing khaki pants. I guess partly the excitement was due to the new shoes, which I purchased for a mere 5$ (to finally replace the vegan shoes that proved unrepairable over a year ago). And partly the pants, which, even though they are plain old khakis, are new enough to be exciting. Plus I'm still feeling my way around the idea of pants that are wider at the top than the bottom, so this conservative outfit felt, to me at least, like a style experiment!

I did wear a blazer over the top of it, at least for my bike ride into the office, but I then proceeded to hang the blazer on the back of my door all day and leave it there when I went home.

Another Fabulous Thrift Store Find

The last time I found a pair of boots at the thrift store, I just about died of happiness. But within a few months of making that purchase, I realized my amazing boots were unforgivably out of style. They had the bulging, oversized toe of the late 90's, and after wearing them a few times, I no longer could stand to, because they made my feet look too fat.

Luckily for me, I recently ran across another pair of boots at the thrift store. Similarly brown, similarly fur-lined, but slightly newer with a more modern profile. And, at $7.50, they cost even less than the last pair!

Like many of the clothes I buy, they needed some heavy alteration. The faux shearling looked like it had the mange, so I ended up trimming most of it off. But after that, I was proud to have a pair of boots that I could wear for years to come! Or at least, until next winter, when I realize fashion has evolved too much again.

The dress, I just want to add quickly, was an eBay purchase that was less successfully restored to usability. When it arrived, I was disappointed to see the fabric covered with scruff and pills. Though I did my best to shave it clean (as per my foolproof fabric rejuvenation method), it still was barely passable. I probably won't wear it but one season.

Dressing for the occasion

To my immense pride, I found another way to wear the maroon-and-black shoes!

With a similarly maroon tank top, and similarly black everything else! I then proceeded to wear this getup to a sports bar.

While my color-coordinating skills never cease to amaze me, my talent for wearing situationally appropriate clothing remains questionable.

Love is under my heels

Despite being recently single, and having a generally jaded view of the holiday at the best of times, I was actually pretty optimistic about Valentine's Day this year. Until yesterday, when something happened to crush all my (apparently very fragile) cheer. And suddenly, my half-formed plans for my V-day outfit suddenly took on a lot more black.

I wore black pants, black tank top, black necklace and black (rose! How romantic!) earrings. I finished it all off with a pair of tough-girl black boots that promise (I like to imagine) to stomp romance into the mushy mess it deserves to be.

Take that, Valentine's Day! The only reason I'm wearing any pink at all is so you know I'm onto you. You better watch your back, because these boots are made for walking!

Skirt shirt

Yesterday, I had the brilliant revelation that a skintight skirt, in addition to being wearable as a belt, can also be worn as a top!

Of course, a tube top is not any more workplace-appropriate than a miniskirt, so I had to cover it up with a rather incongruous white cardigan. But at least I tried something new!