do you LOVE it??
I was a total man repeller on Tuesday. No, don’t give me too much credit. This is not my term. The brilliant concept started here and is now a phenomenon. In short, it’s a style of dressing and makeup-ing oneself in a method that follows important trends, fashion-forward thinking, avant-garde practices, and other aesthetics that men find inherently unsexy. But we ladies know it’s fabulous. And our gays generally back us up.
Case in point: last Friday I found myself with a fresh paycheck in my account and twenty minutes to spare before meeting Josh at Whole Foods for a riveting hour of low-calorie, gluten-free, certified-organic shopping. Snawn. (That is my term. It’s a snore-yawn.)
Luckily for this housewife-in-training, there is a Bloomingdales outlet adjacent to our favorite Whole Foods. So, on a lie related to the wedding “I’m browsing for shoe inspiration!,” I wandered in and directly over to the clearance aisle.
Now, I will preface this next bit by admitting that I am not on the maxi train. I know y’all have been aboard for the past several seasons, and I will wave to you gladly as you roll on by in all your floor-sweeping glory. But they generally are just not for me. I’ve purchased three, and of those three I’ve returned one and given another away. The third hangs anxiously in my closet awaiting its big moment. This moment will likely never come.
But I did see a compelling item in the maxi vein on that fated clearance rack last Friday. It was a long (ankle-sweeping), black chiffon skirt with a red all-over splatter pattern and cinched grosgrain waist. It was also in the desirable size I’ve been hoping to find my way back to for the past several months. Two full sizes below the items that didn’t button at Christmas, I might add.
Off I scurried to the dressing room. It fit! And, um, it kind of looked fabulous. It had pockets! And two subtle pleats on each side. Oooh, I crooned internally. This is chic. But Josh will hate it.
Price check? Original $235 tag intact. Scans in at? 43 bucks, baby. SOLD, to the maxi-hating man repeller in the front row.
Tuesday was a blissful weather day, hovering in the high 70s without a drop of humidity. I shaved the bottom four inches of my legs (hey, why exert yourself when it isn’t necessary?) and donned my fabulous skirt with a cropped Sonia Rykiel long-sleeved wrap tee and my black velvet Tory Burch smoking mocs. Damn, did I look good.
I awoke Josh for my morning once-over. (Please note: there are no women except for me living in this house, and the animals are unreliable. He’s all I’ve got!)
With one eye open, the always-kind Josh whose outfit responses always range from “chic” to “sexy” to at least “you look great,” made a face.
“You look like a nun.”
My response? A shrug, a smile, and a quick photo text to my brother. Who approved with high marks. So, maybe I repelled the most important man on Tuesday, but damn did I feel fly stepping out of my own comfort zone and into something new. Josh knows I’ll always come back to my booty-loving skinnies and those mini skirts he so adores.
The moral? Dig through that clearance rack, girls. And don’t be afraid to break your man’s rules from time to time… at least, when it comes to fashion.
Oh and also? I still kind of hate maxis. But if your newly skinny ankles are showing and you just feel fabulous, I suggest you go for it whether the trend is “you” or not.
another gem from ADAM, the brand of my major steal skirt.
