amber,
i know that I’m a bit late on the comments for this anywho… i just thought i’d share this with you. a few years ago, when i had finally given up on listening to what others said, i.e…. “you have two art degrees. what did you ever think you’d do with them?”, i decided that it was definitely time to make something happen. i just wasn’t sure what. i thought about many things before finally deciding on pursuing graphics. for a while i was seriously considering becoming a decorator. i bought tons of books and read them from cover to cover, each a few times over. i can’t remember exactly who it was that wrote/said this, but it has stayed with me since… it was something like, “people wonder if the individual items that have bought will work well together. if you loved each thing you brought home, then they will work, because they’re you. you work.” i think this translates well into dressing yourself as well. at a lack of a better way to describe my style, i throw a bunch of words together and say that i’m “a reformed punk with an appreciation for simplicity and couture, with a dash of non-crunchy hippy on the side.” i’m still not sure if that even makes sense, but that’s how i see it. i no longer worry about whether anyone likes my big plastic black glasses (or my clear ones, for that matter), the brown open work cowboy boots i wear with everything from sun dresses to cut off cargo pants, the way i throw a t-shirt with poufy sleeves under a smocked dress and end up looking like a boho beer wench, or my black and white wing tipped docs that i scored off ebay for a song. the point is that i love each item individually, so undoubtedly they’ll work well together- for me! screw what other people say. i think someone who has their own definitive style can shop anywhere- from the snobbiest boutiques to the dirtiest thrift stores- because their eyes are keen and they have a vision. you just have to accept that style is a state of mind. and you have style, girl. no worries about that! keep up the great writing. i think i’m in love with you… you know, in the heterosexual admiration kinda way. lol.

ugh, they’re not even designer ass-sticks, they’re old navy fleece ass-sticks. sometimes I want to grab a megaphone and tell them all that I am not dressed up, it’s just that they are just all wearing inappropriately boring and unflattering cable knit sweaters which by the way make everyone with big boobs look chunky.
that is all.
thanks for the support. I’m going to dig out my frilly 70’s summer dresses now and wear them with pride.

sometimes I put together what I think is the most impossibly awesome outfit and then inevitably one of my lawschool peers makes some sort of soul-crushing comment about how my outfit is out of place for our snooty school. no one is ever mean about it, but I can’t even wear a pair of orange wedges without someone asking if I’m going ‘clubbing’ or something — and yes that’s meant to be pejorative since we have no clubs here. I wish I were confident enough to overcome the naysayers, but they squelch the fashion party inside my heart.

I just ranted about this myself, though I’m moving to the other direction of be yourself (the more neutral side), but I love the gold skirt in the first picture. I’ll probably dream about it.

Three Cheers!

Seriously, way to go! Great post. More people need to go out there and rock it..

Variety is the spice of life..

Terrific post, Amber! Some people just got it goin’ on! I’m finding a lot more clothes that say “me” in the thrifts than in the mall these days, it’s not just about the $. And those hated Home Ec. classes are worth gold now, b/c I can alter things. Though you’ve gotta remember, I lived through some of the retro stuff! Now I get bashed at work a little (we all change into scrubs, the great equalizer), and teased by my uber-yuppie college girls; bless my little skater chick, she’s more tolerant–but it’s as hard to find your own drummer, fashion-wise, at 40 as it is at 20!