School nightmares and resultant insomnia aside, I woke up pretty happy and calm on my day off. It was spent indoors doing chemistry problem sets, but I didn't see any reason not to put on makeup and get dressed in something fun.
I originally bought this Ann Taylor Loft dress as an underlayer to wear under dresses that were too thin, too short, or too strapless (or some combination thereof). It's a nice opaque knit, form-fitting enough to be flattering, and super comfortable. It has the added bonus of helping keep dresses up due to friction.
The top of the dress is so fitted I didn't have to wear a strapless bra (they're massively uncomfortable!) and instead just put bra pads down the front. I hope it's not gauche/TMI to mention I cut the pads out of worn-out bras, serge them, and insert them in clothes whenever I can. It's such a comfortable alternative that I hope other gals know about it.
It recently occurred to me that I could wear the navy blue dress as a dress in its own right, and I tried pairing it with a silence + noise jacket. I like the swoop cut in the back of the jacket, and it is one of the only jackets I have ever found with sleeves the length of my arms instead of sleeves the length of my arms plus my hands.
During my searches for wide belts on the internet the other day, I came across a Top 10 list of things short women should never do if they don't want to look fat, and wide belts was on it. Haha! No disrespect to those lists. I think style rules are great, so we can make informed choices of which ones we want to follow and which ones to break. There's a big difference between a wacky style choice and a wardrobe faux pas.
I realized I was starting my 4th of July with a nice cuppa tea (haha!) and decided to wear my teacup necklace in celebration. The hat was my first hat in what is now a collection of several, and one of the only times I found a hat too large for my head. I wear it pulled over one ear at what I hope is a rakish angle. Come to think of it, this was also my first wide belt. It's like a 20s Aya reunion today.
Last time I was trying to clasp something closed, I used a binder clip. I finally got around to making the shirt clasps I wanted to, using a thrifted pair of clip-on earrings. I'm happy with how they turned out! I might follow up with a post in more detail about them, since I have another pair of thrifted clips I want to transform, too. Would that be interesting? Boring?
Marching Band Jacket - silence + noise (thrifted)
Dress - Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)
Belt - kimchi blue (old)
Corduroy hat - GAP (outlet)
Hat pins - The Donut Lounge, Fangamer
Teacup necklace - Nordstrom (gift)
Shirt clips - DIY (thrifted earrings)
Sandals - Eastland's Lagoon sandal (product site)
