Hearts all a-flutter

Outfit: Dress from Asos/ Shoes from Lulu's/ Necklace from Ruche/  1st picture taken by good friend/co-worker

It was with great glee that I met up with some of my friend/labmates for drinks at the bar in a nearby university (I'm kinda jealous, and wish my school had a bar/ fun gathering place).  In addition to cheap drinks and good company, I also got to see one of my labmate's baby (and consequently practice my picture-taking skills on a subject that can't complain).  In exchange (and because she had just bought the same camera I have), she snapped some pictures of what I was wearing.  Naturally, my favorite one is the one where I'm cracking up.  I feel like it's characteristic of me- cheerfully awkward.  Also awkward?  Yeah...in the place where I stopped off to get some of the details of the dress (because it looked like no one else was over there), I wound up sort of in the way of someone's bridal portraits.

Happy outfit

Remember this skirt?  Well, dress worn as skirt, since the whole thing was a bit short for my liking, and the top part was triangles and thin straps, which doesn't work well for my shape.  But for some reason, I couldn't bear to give it up, and over time the idea of what I wanted it to look like as dress started to develop in my head (and I started compulsively doodling the idea on the margins of my seminar notes).

 

And now (finally) I have something that is much closer to the dress that's been living in my head for so long.  It still needs some improvements in terms of the fit on top, but I am positively giddy that it's at a point where I can wear it out (without a skirt underneath it, which is what I've been doing for the past couple weeks until I finally added on the bottom part this morning, because I have a hard time not wearing things simply because they're not finished if they're wearable).

Outfit: Reconstructed dress from Target/ Chelsea Crew shoes from Lulu's/ Necklace from Anthropologie/ Thrifted belt from Goodwill -- Photos taken by the boy

In addition to the epic poem I'd be willing to write to my dress, I think the belt is worthy of at least a haiku or something- after all, it is Everybody, Everywear thrift day (special edition!), and this belt is one of my few thrift finds.  I want to be a nifty thrifter- all the cool kids are doing it- but it's something that requires time (during normal people hours), patience, and a better knowledge of Houston.  Because most of the time when I stop by Goodwill, the only things available in my size are a bright red dress with fruit and ABCs that looks like it belonged to an elementary teacher.  And costs $8 (and are not crazy awesome dresses with the original tag on them that are made even more awesome when the neckline is altered by your friend- Sarah, I still totally covet that dress).  So I need to work on broadening my scope and put a little more effort into this whole thrifting thing, because I've been seduced by this totally awesome belt ($1!)- that and Everybody's doing it :)