I bought this pair of white granny-looking shoes, because they remind me of the ones Duckie wore in Pretty in Pink. I wore them Friday, much to TBID's chagrin.

Me: My white shoes need to be broken in.

TBID: Yeah. I'll help you with that. [A pause] Oops. They fell down the sewer grating.


*

What do you think? Are they really so bad?


At the very least, they look better than Duckie's... Watch and see:

One Goal in 2009: Wear vintage high-waisted skirts without being self-conscious.

I'm glad I spend so much time bundled up in a coat, because I'm just not there yet.

Fashionista or not, please help me out here.

Is this too weird to wear to work?

I'm not a zany art teacher, but I do write for an Internet company. It's a vintage scarf tied around a navy long-sleeved tee. The bottoms are corduroys and the shoes will be navy pointy flats.

A few months ago, I would have just worn the scarf like this, because my company is like that. Or was like that. (Note: A guy wore swim trunks to work over the summer. Various people wear Crocs, including those awful ones with the built-in fleece lining. A senior person at the company rocks short shorts with black tights and boots).

Should I wear it or just lay off the look?

Get it? Lay off? So not funny in today's economy.

I have to keep telling myself I'm nearly halfway there. Unlike a marathon, NaBloPoMo hasn't chafed my skin or made my feet swell. At one point in the past, I blogged nearly every weekday without a fun abbreviated name to justify it, so I should be in shape. I enjoy blogging when I have something to say, but this thing is killing me.

Fact #1: I am now a professional writer. That's what I do for work. It struck me last week. I pay my bills doing what I studied in college. How many liberal arts graduates can say that? This is a big fat "I told you so" to my parents, that's for sure.

Fact #2: When you sit in front of the computer and write all day, you don't really want to do it when you leave work.

Fact #3: But during NaBloPoMo, you pretty much have to.

Fact #4: I'm not giving up on this goal, but I have to be lazy sometimes. I need to leave my apartment and spend time with a human who's not a co-worker or a bold name in my in-box.

This is what I'm wearing to do that:

The stripes and reds and blues of this outfit give it a nautical look. I randomly remembered wearing the navy striped tee on Valentine's Day 2002 when I went out for heart-shaped pizza with this guy I dated for five minutes. He was ahead of my time. I think I'd date the college-version of him now, but maybe he's not as cool as I remember. He's married, after all, and has been for awhile. I don't think anyone so young should get married unless there's a threat of being stoned. The bad way, I mean. With stones. The hard, jagged kind.

No, nine is not my lucky number. Yes, I have to say that a lot when I wear this vintage brass nine necklace. My mentor Kelly gave it to me. She made it. I got to choose from a few different numbers, and one and eight were taken. I like that nine is ambiguous sometimes, like at a shoe store. When I wear this necklace, little kids on the subway often point and identify it - always proudly, usually correctly. Their parents look at me like they can't decide if I think I'm a fashionista or Flava Flav.

The red sweater is a staple that's long enough not to show how high-waisted my denim skirt is. I know it's en vogue to dress at Camel Toe Orange Alert, but I just can't go there. I have hips, so I think I'd look chunky. Plus I don't want to have this phantom penis fabric bulge when I sit down.

Come to think of it, this pleated front skirt is perfect for any guy who needs to pass as a woman. Extra bits can swim around undetected. It's deeply, darkly, dudely demure.

You cannot have a bad day in red tights, unless you work at a theme park or department store Christmas promotion. I like how they peek out window-like from the space between my shoe and its strap. The navy flats are a librarian's fantasy in leather and rubber soles. I like the homespun hip button and that they are one of my few pairs of shoes that doesn't click or clunk. I should wear them more often. My new blister is as much as indication of that as it is a deterrent.

Some people fall in love and get fat. I got cheap, and I was already cheap. My thrifting activity dropped off in the last five months or so. But I've gotten back in the habit in the last few weeks, as my tutoring load has lightened. It really isn't the most logical venture - I'm shopping more on less money. Oh, well. Maybe that's why AM New York didn't really let me share my "wisdom" a few months ago.

Here's what I bought today for $20:

The bold scarf is by Nik-Nik, a brand that made shirts that would bring Dan Fogelberg to tears back in the 1970s. They were that beautiful. I'm not 100% sure my find is vintage, but I'll label it as such. It's old, anyway. I intend to wear it bandit-style, which I did with another one on Friday. Behold:

Nothing says, "Don't mess with me. I could rob Duane Reade," like a befeathered scarf. Trust.

My other treasures include a Gucci tie and new, never worn Clarks Privo shoes. The tie will make a fine addition to my snazzy collection, and I'll be breaking the shoes in over the week.

Hast thou yet been convinced to visit thy local Goodwill? I hope so.

I've been planning a short blog entry since this morning, unaware that Blogger would be down most of my typical posting window anyway. Alas, the gears crank once more.

My job allows me a lot of breathing room clothing-wise. Well, really everything-wise, but that's not the point. Over the summer, one guy came to work in swim trunks. He rustled up and down the hall passing out pay stubs and no one even asked him where his floaties were.

We were all busy looking weird ourselves. I wore a skirt as a top at least twice when it was hot out, and I love ties in the fall and winter. In New York, you can get away with anything as long as you embody the right attitude: "This? This here? It is so on purpose it hurts."

Lately, I'm all about the leggings and short dresses. They're so much better than summer clothes, which always seem to equal leggings and sweaty boobs or short dresses and the stubble I always miss on the back of my ankles. Or something like that. This is what I walked out of the house wearing today:


The most expensive part of the ensemble is the iPhone I'm using to photograph it. The black tee is from Target, and I bought the mini-dress off a clearance rack last night. It cost less than the opaque black leggings I'm wearing underneath. I'm going to retire those for awhile. People fixate on them and I think I actually saw a guy's face fall on the subway when he realized they weren't see-through. Sorry perv, but you can get AM New York for free. The freshwater pearl necklace is from my mom.


My black riding boots are tall enough to keep some leg covered and make me feel like a tough would-be jockey, plus they go so well with stylish pops of color. This outfit was the best thing about work today. Besides when one of my favorite co-workers investigated a weird smell that flooded the office and then announced, "It's the shaft that stinks!"

For a number of reasons, I haven't done laundry - rather, had laundry done - in over a month. Also, I donated most of my summer wardrobe staples before moving in an effort to cut down on crap to carry up three new flights of stairs. Yesterday I had to make a choice: I could either take my laundry to the new cleaner across the street, or I could buy new clothes with short sleeves and breathable fabric.

I decided to just buy new clothes.

Yep, Mama, you raised that kind of daughter. I also once washed my dishes in the shower. Yes, while I was showering. Uh huh, I was naked and washing the cereal bowls at the same time. That is the image you should have.

Today I wore a new shirt, because it's really hot outside and nothing else weather-appropriate was clean, well, besides the other new shirts I just bought. The jeans I wore are definitely not clean, but denim isn't supposed to be washed often. I wear my bottoms until they're as saggy as diapers. Then I ask the cleaners to wash them in cold water about thirty times before I leave the laundromat. Following that, I light a candle at a Catholic church.

Here's today's outfit. It's equally parts farmer girl/second grade teacher. That, my friends, is a winning combination if I ever knew one:

I know I look stumpy in this iPhone picture. I blame the mirror, the camera, and the fact that my mom's 4'10". (I'm 5'6" in real non-stumpy life).

I love these red shoes. I bought them for $10. It is extremely difficult to be in a bad mood if you are wearing red shoes. Unless you are wearing them and you look stumpy. That makes things easier.

My hair is actually as short as it looks. I got it cut today. It feels five pounds lighter and three Fritos bags greasier. Washing my clothes is hard enough. I can't imagine keeping this much gunk in my hair on a daily basis.

Diane Keaton in Annie Hall inspired me to wear ties.

Avril Lavigne didn't.

When a distant co-worker in sales complimented my tie this morning (a yellow silk Ferragamo with birds), I quickly thanked him. I haven't heard anything but compliments about my elegant forays into menswear.

"I like it. It's so...Paula Poundstone," he continued.

I felt like I'd been slapped.

I'm wearing a skirt tomorrow.

I had kind of an invigorating weekend. Not that I really did anything other than attend yoga class, clean my apartment, and watch movies. But that's all you really need when the weather isn't that great and your outlook is downright terrible.

Though I was very much by myself, I didn't feel alone. While watching Under the Tuscan Sun, I unearthed this black jumper thing that I wore a lot this time last year. Then I rummaged through my closet to put together an Amanda's-feeling-better get-up. I found a few items that happened to match and wore it today:

The black top could make anyone look a little pregnant, so I wore it with straight leg jeans and a slim sweater that looks like a tablecloth. I don't love it in spite of the fact that it looks like I swiped it from someone's granny. I love it because of that.

My mom bought me this sweater secondhand before my first trip to New York. "Those Broadway theaters are cold," she warned me. So she bought be a sweater with holes in it. I was twelve years old. This is the only useful thing left from the trip that made me decide to move to the big city someday. Awww...

I bought these polka dot flats for $5 in Washington Heights. I also have them in pink and white. They're adorable, but not the most practical shoes when there's still some ice on the sidewalks. I slid and fell close to my office building this morning. A very nice Wall Street person retrieved my library book, which had almost fallen down an open manhole, and helped me up.

I love this black lucite flower ring. I bought it for $3 and frequently clean it with a toothbrush.

Oh, and the jumper has two big buttons. I like buttons. Come to think of it, I looked very homesewn today, as they'd say on Project Runway. Oh, well. I felt at least 50% more cheerful. The nice weather helped, too.

As I hinted earlier, the long weekend in D.C. was not that great. 1) It was freezing, rendering some of the cuter clothes I packed useless. 2) It was monotonous, as the people I hung out with were pretty much just watching movies or eating. Or watching movies and eating. 3) My back still has 47.2 kinks from sleeping on an air mattress and freezing each night.

On Tuesday, I was exhausted, but sartorially ambitious. I wanted to finally wear some bright blue tights I bought over Christmas break and start breaking in a skirt I bought Monday morning. This is what I decided to don:

Now that my hair is darker, I think I can wear yellow without looking malarial. Correct me nicely, if I'm wrong. And if indeed I am then I'll probably still wear this sweater. It's got adorable owls on it, which perfectly match my Smurfy tights! What color blue are these, anyway? Teal?

I looked over a year for the perfect denim pencil skirt and finally found it at Zara in D.C. Just as "every cloud has a silver lining," I suppose every bad holiday has its treasures. Mine is a size small.

On the front of the sweater, the owls are wide awake. This is the nocturnal side of the sweater, boys and girls. Notice the star and heart buttons. They're merely decorative, but such a cute touch. The silver and sea glass earrings were designed by my high school art teacher. Hi, Mrs. Gafford!

On the back of the sweater, the owls are dozing. It must be daytime. I'm looking forward to wearing this ensemble without a coat to see how observant my co-workers are. (It somehow took half a day for a guy I share an office with to notice the tights, and he and I are both editors. Nice eye for details, dude).

Today has been f-f-f-freezing! I needed an outfit for work that would be warm, but not so warm that it was unattractive. It's hard to make bulky layer upon layer look chic, and office buildings and subway cars are often heated to a temperature just below the sun's surface to compensate for the blustery outdoors. The polar climates of a daily commute are taxing to the system. Then you remember that you've been eschewing deodorant on those days you don't work out, since you can't possibly break a sweat looking for grammatical errors in a marketing document. Well, maybe that's just me. But it's uncomfortable, take my word on it.

I've been itching to add a kind of Wardrobe Remix category to the blog. In case you're unfamiliar, Wardrobe Remix is a Flickr album in which any stranger can post pictures of his or her outfits and detail each item down to accessories. I find it inspiring and addictive. It's a great way to watch how people use wardrobe staples (often offbeat) to create myriad looks.

The Wardrobe Remix community is incredibly welcoming, but I haven't contributed yet. One reason is that joining presumes that I have a unique sense of style, which I'm not sure I do. I just like clothes that fit well and look nice, color being a plus. The second reason is that I loathe taking pictures of myself. It's hard to tell if the camera is focused, so I always end up taking a lot of test shots that are equally blurry. My apartment is really dark, too. But despite these hurdles, I drank the Kool-Aid today. It was just too tempting. And watermelon flavored.

So today I anticipated a wind chill below zero, but I wanted to wear something warm that wouldn't be stifling at work. I chose this:


It seems kind of like a sartorial stereotype of a mime or maybe something Hamburglar's girlfriend would wear. But you know what? Hamburglar is hot stuff.

My top half consisted of a lipstick red cashmere sweater my mom gave me for Christmas three years ago over a stiff white shirt. The striped tie is actually a waist tie from a shirt I no longer have.

These earrings were $.50 at H&M's Black Friday sale. I wear them with anything black.

These shoes were $5 at a Washington Heights clothing store I discovered one evening before tutoring. I think they're quirky and fun, but I nearly got frostbite. My subway took a detour this morning, and I had to walk four extra blocks to work. Brrr!

I bought this ring at Forever 21, and it makes me so happy. I keep describing it as nautical, but no one seems to get that.

"My [porkribs] bring all the boys to the yard..."