How to Get Over the Fashion Blahs

After my post on Friday, I tried really hard to put an end to my little pity party. I took myself down to Paul & Joe, where they were having a sale, but there was nothing amazing and/or affordable left. Then! Mike and I trekked out to Ikea, which I normally love and always come home with, at the least, something great like hot pink ice cube trays. This time, I came home with tupperware. Blah. The situation was getting dire.

A few things that helped: I've been stuck in bed with this terrible cold and so spent quite awhile clicking through the archives of The Sartorialist, whose images of effortless, original, sometimes edgy style is exactly what I aim for myself. (I'm not sure I always succeed, but it's good to have goals.)

I also got a real kick out of reading the archives of New York magazine's Ask a Shop Clerk feature. I know everyone loves the often ridiculous Look Book, but my favorite fashion column is definitely the shop clerk q&a. (If you don't have the four hours it takes to read the archives and/or would actually like to accomplish something today, this week's chat with a clerk at CB I Hate Perfume Gallery is particularly entertaining.)

What finally perked me up was Cat's little shopping tour of some fun Lower East Side boutiques. (Such. Cute. Dresses!) I decided to get out of my jammies and back into my closet. We were headed to Singapore's big Fourth of July beer-and-fireworks fest, and so I brought out one of my favorite skirts for the event.

It's a thrift store find made with patchwork pieces of the most amazing vintage prints. If I could have a few yards of any of these fabrics, I would be a very happy sewer. It's like a retro bonanza down there! I paired it with my beloved American Apparel scoop-neck tee (not available online – I know because I recently tried to go and order four more, they're really that great), flipflops and a basket bag. Mike said I looked "very picnic-y." I would have preferred to be more "French countryside" but I think that might require, at the least, cuter shoes. And it was a July 4th party, so picnic-y kind of works.


Because the skirt is just too busy to wear with many accessories, I went with just a skinny red headband. I'm still not sure if it looked stylishly cute or overly cute. (It's such a fine line.) Grrrr, headbands, my current fashion nemesis.

Finally! At the risk of my mother e-mailing me later to say, "I can't believe you showed everyone your underwear," I also wore my very favorite vintage slip (which, actually, my mom found for me at a tag sale). I wear it, literally, every day – it makes me feel much more confident that a gust of wind won't provide a free peep show to everyone nearby. This has, in the past, happened on more than one occasion. Beware of subway station exits, is all I have to say about that.