October 8, 2008
So if colleagues are wearing something like this (no sparkles, though):
or this:
Is it really so bad that I want to wear this? (It’s a t-shirt.)
I know, I know. One unprofessional outfit should not beget another. But my new shirt is so cute. Can you see the radish that was ninja-starred right in the “head”?
September 5, 2008
Oy. No, no I don’t. But because I clicked on the link … I found that I do, perhaps, need ….
Women’s Xhilaration® Susan Plaid Mary Jane Pumps – Black: $22.99
Women’s Mossimo® Viviana Pumps – Black: $24.99
Ok. So here’s how I’m going to talk myself OUT of them:
1. I have too many shoes. I don’t like having too many shoes, and have actually gone through and donated three or four pairs recently to start paring down.
[Except, I only have one pair of black pumps and they’re so scuffed now. All my other shoes are open toed, or a leetle too shiny for business purposes. My mind is still on interview styles.]
2. And I’m not supposed to be buying cute things just because the price is low and they’re cute. They have to be good quality as well.
[Objecting voice has no objection to this.]
3. I’m not allowed to spend money right now. I have this whole PLAN set up. A plan that I’ll share once I confirm more of the details.
[Oh. Yeah.]
Dangit, Target!!
August 18, 2008
A whole pile of old clothing that I was sure I’d Goodwilled last year turned up in an older suitcase that I haven’t used in years. It’s a backpack zipped onto another backpack style, so I use that one for international or very long lengthy trips. (*sigh* Memories of my trip to Italy so many many moons ago.) As it turns out, that purple dress I was lamenting the sacrifice of was part of that pile, and I sorted through the clothes juuuust to be sure that there was nothing in there that I regretted purging. There was just one pair of cargo pants I’d outgrown, but strangely fit again, that I need to take needle and thread to, and a very light blue and white dress I might just want as a beach cover-up.
The rest of the clothing definitely needs to go to another home. Good grief, I found clothes in there from junior high and early high school years and I can’t believe I wore that stuff! Nothing was completely-and-totally hideous, but they were all slightly ill-fitting. I was too small for regular sizes and hadn’t discovered the tailor; that didn’t happen until after college. Yes, I am a total late bloomer. Heck, I’m still not sure I’ve bloomed completely! Also, it seems there’s physical evidence that I used to believe in buying things that were a bargain because they were on sale. Thank heavens I’ve outgrown that phase. I just wish that my mother had taught me not to do that in the first place, y’know?
It’s a huge relief to understand now that it’s worth paying a bit more for something higher quality, that’s very close to my size, and paying a bit more on top of that to have it fitted to my body. Let’s face it, I’m never going to be a standard size, very few of us actually are, so it just makes sense not to buy a whole lot of junk in search of a few good pieces.
Lessons learned.
July 11, 2008
Macy’s has been emailing about sales and clearances constantly, and I finally got curious and clicked. I realized that my first instinct is to be drawn towards things that are comfortable and functional, which does not frequently mesh with my need for more professional clothing. For example:
They also come in a plaid (pink or blue):
They look comfortable and they’re not tennis shoes, which are my favorite shoes to wear but have been sworn off for work ….
Uh, I’m totally talking myself into getting them. See, here’s the thing. I have one pair of leather flats that I’ve been wearing to pieces. Literally. They’re getting really shabby, but they’re the only pair of closed toe flats that I have. But, I really think these are only ok to wear with jeans, they’re not going to be paired with any other trousers.
Does anyone have better pairing ideas? They’re $19.99, and I have a Macy’s GC so it’s not out of budget. If not, I should probably skip them and wait for a pair of flats that can be paired with jeans and trousers.
July 8, 2008
I was vaguely enjoying this article about people who look at buying designer jeans, on their quest to find the “perfect jeans,” as an investment, or as a perfectly justifiable expense. Some price tags almost make the already unfathomable $200-300 jeans seem less ridiculous:
Roberto Cavalli’s bejeweled jeans, a celeb favorite: They’ll dent your wallet by $1,445.
And that’s nothing compared with a pair from Dolce & Gabbana. Those could run you $3,950. And if you really want to shoot the moon, a pair of Escada Couture jeans encrusted with Swarovski crystals cost $10,000. By the way, Swarovski more or less equates to Baccarat; both are Madison Avenue names.
The most expensive jeans on record are a pair of vintage Levi’s that sold for $60,000 on eBay on June 15, 2005, according to Guinness World Records.
Honestly, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already heard and dismissed as run-of-the-mill spending insanity before. After all, I’m the girl who snagged one of her three working pairs of jeans (by “working” I mean there are no holes and none are threatening) for $12. (They fit wonderfully, even though they are a little long.) I think $60 is too much to pay, so really, any more than that is just someone’s eccentricity; I’m not your average jeans consumer. I know girls who own more jeans than I do t-shirts, and that scares me. Seriously, can you imagine the laundry? Actually, having more than three pairs of jeans would probably make separating out a jeans load a heck of a lot easier….
Anyway, when I got to the end of the article, my jaw dropped:
Here’s the ultimate: Pregnant women are a key market for denim designers. Of 20 mothers and mothers-to-be I surveyed, 65% said they had bought designer maternity jeans — to be worn for just a few months.
Only seven women didn’t.
“They were too expensive for too short of a usage period. My maternal practicality set in,” said Katharine Eaton, a human resources specialist from Glen Mills, Pa. “In retrospect, I wish I had and would do so if I was going through it again.”
I have never heard of such a thing!! Not that I think a 20 person survey is worth diddly in terms of a representative sample, but the fact that they could find enough people who like the idea of maternity designer jeans? For a few months of pregnancy? *faint*
June 25, 2008
Whoops. I’d mentioned before that I have this weird cycle of either acquiring or divesting myself of stuff. Sometimes I’m ruthless, other times I’m sensible about the decisions to keep or not to keep, but most times I assume that if I hadn’t worn it up until that point, I won’t want to ever again.
Apparently, I’m wrong about that.
The weather has been insanely hot of late, hot enough that my usual uniform of jeans and a shirt was unbearable. Sorry, FB, it was the weather that forced me to finally follow my resolution to dress better for work, not a sense of fashion. Or shame. 😀
I’ve broken down and been wearing dresses and skirts to the office. This is quite the rarity, and while I have a lot of dresses, some of which date as far back as early high school, I don’t have that many office-appropriate dresses. I’ve been pairing tank tops (that are still cool and much more appropriate layered than alone), or 3/4 sleeve button downs with skirts to stretch the summer wardrobe. While contemplating what other spring and work appropriate items I could pull out from storage, I realized there was one dress that would work, from high school graduation: it was a nice, stretchy darker lilac material and ran a bit longer than knee-length. Not the maxi-dress, but not too casual, either. Unfortunately, I decided several months ago that I had too many dresses and I could well part with that one because I’d not worn it in years.
It’s rare that I regret clearing out the closet, and the one-in-one-out method, but I’ve really got to rethink my keep or toss strategy.
May 29, 2008
Chicky Finance’s explanation of why she only buys white socks, despite her love of wildly colored socks, tickled me. It reminded me of my breakthrough discovery that almost all women’s socks are too big for my feet, and no matter how much I pulled them up, I was guaranteed to be running around linoleum floors with two inches of sock flopping off my toes within minutes. This was especially tragic when out visiting because I’m a trained Asian, and don’t wear shoes in anyone’s homes, whether or not they’re Asian.
I finally figured out what to do: boys’ socks! I wear about a size 3 or 4 in boys’ shoes, so the day came when I put two and two together, and came up triumphant at Target with a pack of boys’ socks. It took months before I was outed. My buddy and I had our feet up on the coffee table side by side, and his girlfriend pointed out that we were both wearing the exact same sock, with the same gray toebox and red stitched “Hanes” brand under the balls of our feet. Whoops! Hey, kids’ socks are cheaper, too!
This website and its content are copyright of A Gai Shan Life | © A Gai Shan Life 2024. All rights reserved.
Site design by 801red