Seriously, there is no life but Guys and Dolls. I'm in rehearsals every night- last week it was three hours a night, now it's bumped to four. Gah.
Trunk or Treat was tons of fun. The Swiper costume was a hit!
P made a fabulous nerd. No one was surprised.
Kat and Emma and I also ventured forth to find their bridesmaids dresses, and yea and verily, we were victorious! My five lovely ladies shall be clad accordingly:
Kat: Lindsay: Rebecca: Rose: Emma: So now no one will be naked! Huzzah!
And now I am at Guys and Dolls rehearsal. Where I shall be for the next three hours. Please, someone come to Alumni Auditorium and shoot. me. now.
But on the other hand, I've been listening to this song a lot while driving, and I thought I would share the joy. So here is my Musical Monday contribution!
And that concludes today's sporadic and spazzy blog entry. Carry on.
Sunday, October 17: Find out I need to make a costume so I can be Swiper from Dora the Explorer for Trunk or Treat at church. I immediately run out and buy $15 worth of costume velvet and thread.
Over the next week: I deliberate over the design of the costume before deciding to dig out good ol' Simplicity 2942 from my stash. However, because of a STUPID REGENCY DRESS and nightly rehearsals, I don't get around to it.
Saturday, October 24: I finally get started.
4:21 pm: I dig out the pattern (no, literally, I have to dig) and sort the pieces while watching an umpteenth episode of Wizards of Waverly Place.
4:34 pm: After finding all the pieces, I lay out the fabric, pin, and cut. (This is my least favorite part of sewing...)
5:10 pm: Gah, I hate pinning and cutting. It took me this long!! But c'est la vie. The rest of this dress should go a lot faster. I'll check back in an hour... (Also, I switched to watching Hocus Pocus on ABC Family.)
6:10 pm: The bodice is complete, and I've started working on the pockets. I'm thinking about eliminating them, though, because I think it's going to make the skirt sag too much. I think I'll just skip ahead to the next step.
7:49 pm: The front skirt is doing just fine...but I took a break to eat dinner. Because food is awesome and stuff. Also, the Wizards of Waverly Place movie is on...
9:04 pm: A lot more progress. The back is faced, the ties are sewn, and both hem ruffles are pinned (but only one is sewn). The Wizards movie is over; now I'm watching the end of The Goonies.
10:01 pm: STUPID SEWING MACHINE. I have made little progress. But I went from the Goonies to King of the Hill to Project Runway.
11:02 pm: The dress is almost done- it's just a matter of attaching the sleeves. Looking for something else to watch. Snacking on a mini KitKat bar to stay awake. Also waiting for P to call.
11:37 pm: Both sleeves are attached and the dress is complete! On to the mask and gloves. (Also, P called.)
12:06 am: I realized that I have no pattern, nor any clue as to how to construct a mask. I dug around through some boxes and unearthed a pair of goggles.
12:32 am: The mask is okay. I'm not thrilled about it, but it'll work. However, I'm completely daunted by the idea of sewing a pair of gloves.
12:40 am: I gave up on the mask for the moment and went searching through the downstairs hall closet for a pair of purple gloves. I found one. As in one glove.
Before I get started, I guess I should say that the Regency dress is done, done, done! I finished it this morning, a few hours before class, and it fit perfectly and was incredibly comfortable. Success! The presentation also went very well, which pleases me. Now I just have to make a Swiper costume before Sunday and a zombie coat before Halloween...
I have also been named an honorary man in the theater department. When I have my official christening, I shall report the tale (as much as I am permitted).
Other than that...nothing has really been thrilling. Basically life=Guys and Dolls rehearsal.
Wedding stuff has hit a minor plateau. Things have changed a little bit when it comes to vendors- we've decided to have a local bakery do the cake. It's getting a little stressful to balance school/rehearsal/wedding/graduating/life, so I've delegated the vendor search for the big three (cake, photography, and catering) to my dad. He loves that sort of contract stuff. And I...do not. But I'm trying to keep wedding stuff in my wedding blog, so I'll move on. (Although it's been a month since I applied to Weddingbee...and they still haven't answered me! Gah!).
And now on to the Thursday's Ten!
I love what Lora picked for this week. It's all stuff that we would absolutely have to take with us to the next house if we were moving. And since I'm going to be moving with P in five months (finally!), I suppose I should actually think about that.
So here's my list! #1: My baby blanket. I know, stupid. But I've always had it, for every move, every dorm, every internship. And I'm holding onto it so I can sew it into a coat for my first child. So there.
#2: My Disney box. I have a box filled with all sorts of important things from my two Disney internships- a genuine Great Movie Ride newsie cap, an original Fantasmic! shirt, a handful of 3D glasses, photographs...even a piece of Great Movie Ride carpet. (Is that weird? Yep, that's weird.)
#3: My library. You know how the Beast gives Belle that massive library?
Yeah. I have this.
(This pictures was taken when I was in high school...there are fewer dolls now.)
I actually have shelves that wrap around my room, and they're sagging under the weight of my book collection. I also inherited a complete collection of Shakespeare's works from my grandfather, but I can't put them up because I ran out of room. But I'm already warning P that we have to get a lot of Ikea bookshelves for our apartment, because these babies are coming with me.
(And yes, my room is blue with a red stripe, a purple stripe, and orange shelves. My comforter is sage green, and I have curtains striped in all of those colors. Gotta love it.)
#4: My vintage Alice magazine ad. It's decorated my walls since I was five or six years old.
#5: My reminder box. For my twentieth birthday, P gave me a Willow Creek box filled with tiny pieces of paper. That tiny box is crammed full of reasons that he loves me, and he wrote it so that if I ever doubted that he loved me, I could read it and be assured.
#6: My Beatrice manuscript. When I wrote my novel, I wrote it by hand. Those three hundred sacred pages are coming with me EVERYWHERE, fo' sho'.
#7: My Alice in Wonderland costume. It's the first thing I ever sewed, and I love it. Plus, it's always nice to have a default costume lying around in case, you know, you have to dress up.
#8: A little glass Ariel figure. P bought her for me as a surprise from the Arribas Brothers kiosk in Magic Kingdom, right outside Pirates of the Caribbean. I had been drooling over her for months! She's a nice little mascot.
#9:My sewing machine. I have to downsize my sewing stuff when I move, but Zac Efron has to come with me.
#10: My little television. Because a girl has got to get her CSI fix while the guy plays his video games.
Last night I dragged Zac Efron out and started chugging away. The bodices went together surprisingly well, despite how thin the front looks. I lengthened it by about three inches, and ended up cutting off two of them. Most of the reviews of the pattern I've read despair about how this dress doesn't look flattering on curvier girls. I completely disagree. If you look at paintings of women from the time period, they were definitely curvy, and they rocked out those long empire dresses.
(see? see?)
I also sewed the top layer together and hemmed, then pinned it to the bodice. Then I got tired and went to bed, for yea and verily, I am lazy.
So when I got home from classes today, I got back to work (despite the fact that all I wanted to do was take a nap after rehearsal). I finished the lining- including the process of sewing wide pregathered eyelet trim to the hem- and sewed it to the bodice. I also managed to assemble a sleeve (yes, just one sleeve) before I realized it was 6:03 and I hadn't eaten dinner and rehearsal started in less than an hour and AUGH.
So now I'm sitting in the hallway at Guys and Dolls rehearsal, super sleepy and even more super bored, wishing I was asleep. Maybe I'll take a nap after my scene...
Who knew muslin was this amazing? I'm really happy with it. I've sewed with some crappy cheap fabrics before, but this muslin has such a delicious weight to it. It's going to be just the right fabric for this project. Very happy about that.
I'm not so happy about the fact that I forgot to compensate for the fabric I would need for the lining. I didn't get nearly enough muslin for the dress and the lining. So I'm compensating by making the lining about six inches shorter than the gown. I'll probably trim it with eyelet, just to make it longer (and make it secretly prettier).
I need to cut the skirt lining panels (two back and two side back), one more bodice, and the sleeves. But I am just way too tired to deal with it right now. So I shan't.
I have finally cut out all of the pattern pieces. I think I'm going to die.
It took about an hour and a half just to cut the paper pieces. Now I have to align them properly on my (very narrow) cut of muslin and pray I have enough. I have to cut:
-2 bodice fronts -4 bodice backs -4 bodice side backs -2 sleeves -1 skirt front -2 skirt backs -2 skirt side backs
And that doesn't even include the underskirt. I seriously doubt I have enough muslin to do the job, and I have no desire to purchase more. I do have a vast quantity of a dusky lavender sheer, which might do the trick, especially if I lace the back of the dress with lavender ribbon.
Also, I think I know what I'm going to be for Halloween, since now I can't dye my hair back to red and be Ariel until after Guys and Dolls is over.
While I have several projects going on right now that are nearly done (red corduroy coat, navy Kate Nash dress, plaid open-back dress), everything is going on hold. Why? Because I have ONE WEEK to make a Regency dress.
I've been planning this dress for a while, because this is going to be my prototype for my Giselle dress.
I 've done a lot of dresses with sweetheart necklines (I have been, um, well-blessed), so I was going to do the bodice on my own by building it around a bra. The skirts were confusing me, though. It requires four layers- one pink, two cream, one aqua- but when she stands still, there's very little volume. Yet when she spins, it flares like a mofo. It also, inexplicably, has a train.
I theorized that the skirts were gored (in a pie shape, if you will) and most likely cut on the bias. In order to find the right pattern piece, I purchased Butterick 6630 off of good ol' Ebay.
The skirt is just right, so I'm just going to modify it. But I wanted to do a dry run by sticking exactly to the pattern, because I've never done a skirt quite like this before.
Last week I purchased five or six yards of a nice white muslin (yay for sales!), and the other night I started leisurely cutting out pattern pieces. I figured I have plenty of time. I wanted to wear it for an English novel project (since we're doing it on Emma), but I thought there would be time.
Oh, no. That's due in a week. And since I'm dressing up as Jane Austen, and naked is not an option, I have to start and complete this project by Thursday.
Oy.
When I get home from rehearsal, I'm breaking out the scissors. I expect it'll take about two to three hours just to cut the pattern and the fabric for this son of a biscuit eater.
After all my bemoaning about skipping a day of blogging, I didn't blog yesterday either! I need to fix this. Now that I have my wedding-only blog, I got a little distracted...
I've been sending out a lot of Facebook messages, getting other people on the same page as me when it comes to wedding stuff. Especially the bridesmaids dresses! Naked is not a good option. I'm secretly hoping that all of them will fall in love with this dress as much as I have:
Gah. I love that dress. And it fits the feel of the wedding really really well!
Oh, well. We'll figure something out.
In other dress-related news, I've think I'm going to go with a different dress for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Originally, I picked out this one: I picked it for the sole reason of the pickups. I thought "Hey, I'm too short for a gown with pickups. I'll just put them on my rehearsal dress!"
Lo and behold, my dress has pickups! And in the meantime, I have a new dress on my "if-I-could-afford-any-wedding-gown-ever" list: Christos's Bella.
Oh mah gah. It's gorgeous. I could eat it.
(Not really. I'm probably allergic.)
I think I'm just going to recreate a shorter version of this dress for the rehearsal, probably by Frankensteining. My sister has this pattern, so I'll use this for the bodice: Form the looks of it, the dress is simply layered square skirts, to create the handkerchief hems. It'll take a heck of a lot of organza, but it'll be gorgeous! Pair it with pretty ballet flats and a flower in my hair, and I will be a happy camper.
I've also been considering the weather. I mean, March in Nashville can be either gorgeous and sunny, or freezing and gross! I'll need a coat. But not just any coat. This coat has to go over my wedding dress (and probably my rehearsal dress as well). So to cover up, stay warm, and match my theme, I'm going to make this: "But how does it match the theme?" you ask.
This is from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film, which (coincidentally) is coming out a week before the wedding.
Nerdy, isn't it? But it's a pretty, classy coat, and it's an Alice reference that most people probably won't get. But I will, and I will be happy.
My version will probably fasten with pearl buttons rather than self-fabric, and it'll be shorter, most likely based off of this pattern: I can manage that, I think.
In real life news...well, life goes on. Guys and Dolls is crawling along at a snail's pace. I'm actually kind of relieved to have a smaller featured part rather than to be an ensemble member. Everyone else has to be at rehearsal every day...but tonight is my first rehearsal for the week! It's nice to have time to work on wedding stuff, rather than killing myself in the theater every night.
Fall break is this weekend. Will I be there? Nope. Rehearsal on Friday, load-in on Saturday. But hopefully on Saturday afternoon, P and I can go see the Toy Story double feature. Because I love those movies, for serious. And I wouldn't feel like a real cast member if I didn't go to see it.
I didn't blog yesterday. Sad day. It's the first day I've missed in a long time.
But in my defense, I spent a lot of time working on a separate wedding blog. My poor little blog is getting completely overwhelmed by wedding stuff, so I made a blog juuuust for that purpose. Let me know what you think of it!
I'm still mysteriously sick. No clue as to what's wrong with me. But it seems to be fading away. At least I hope it's fading away. I really don't want to deal with this any more...
But that does explain why I'm so tired. And why I'm going to crash....now.
If all had gone as planned, I would be rocking out at a Relient K concert with Kat. But I have a mild but nevertheless obnoxious case of the flu. So instead of shouting the lyrics of "Sadie Hawkins Dance" at the top of my lungs (do they even still play that one? I feel so old...), I am curled up in my bed with a Sprite-and-cranberry juice cocktail, watching Fox's Animation Domination block and cruising Weddingbee.
Despite my blah-ness, P came over after church so we could work on wedding-related stuff. I wasn't terribly up for it, but P was willing to drive and carry all the stuff I pointed out.
We went on a field trip. Not a very exciting one, but first we traveled to Michaels to pick up two more boxes of invitations. Not only were the invitations marked down to $29.99 from $39.99, but I got one of the boxes for 50% off with a coupon! Fifteen dollars for thirty invitations? Yes, please.
I also picked up ribbon to wrap around the stems of my bouquet. Originally I wanted to get velvet ribbon, just because I am totally in love with texture, but it's just not practical. Light blue velvet ribbon with a 2" width is just not malleable enough to wrap around stems, and it's hard to find it in a wide width, anyways. The ribbon I picked up is a satin stripe- so there's still texture, just different.
After Michaels in 100 Oaks, we headed over to JoAnn's. I had picked out the lace fabric that I wanted to use for my going-away dress the last time I was there, but I wanted to wait until it was A) on sale, or B) I could use my 50% off coupon. Turns out the fabric was on sale, so I picked up four yards for $9.09 instead of $12.99 per yard. It's an absolutely beautiful diamond white organza striped in a floral lace pattern. It also fulfills one of my big critera- instead of selvage edges, it's finished in a lace pattern. Sold!
I still need to buy everything else to create the dress, but I have plenty of time, since I'm not planning to actually sew it until February. I'm still losing weight, and I don't want to start now, lose a lot of weight, and then drag around an ill-fitting dress during the reception. Besides, I have to make a muslin mockup of the bodice. So yeah. Plenty of time to buy the rest of the supplies.
Then I splurged.
P told me I was fine, that I've been planning for this for a super long time and he was fine with me spending the money. And as much as I dislike spending money, I'm super excited about this, my newest large-scale costuming project.
*drool*
I have been in LOVE with that dress since Enchanted first premiered, and it took me almost two years to find just the right fabric. It's still not perfect, but I definitely won't find anything better. I snatched up five yards of the stuff back in the spring. Today I splurged and bought the rest of the supplies (except for the four yards of cream organza I need for the two underskirts).
I felt as guilty as sin as I slunk away from JoAnn's with my bags of loot. (Did I also mention I bought five yards of white muslin? It was only $1.49 a yard...). P kept telling me it was all right, but I still wasn't confident.
Oh, well. The purchase was made and P took me home. (And he picked up a peanut butter fudge milkshake from Sonic for me too...I love that man.) We were going to hash out a whole bunch of wedding stuff, but I just wasn't up to it. Instead, we had a laptop party. Basically, we sat on my bed and watched Nickelodeon and worked on our laptops. He worked on some Microsoft 7 training stuff, I worked on wedding stuff.
I know, right? We're so boring. But hey, that's what happens.
Before he left, we went over our rough guest list. It's changed a bit over the past few years of our engagement (beginning with the fact that he couldn't remember the last names of several of his relatives!) and I wanted to make sure everything was still good on his end. He studied it for a bit, and declared that it looked good to him.
So now I've been recalibrating the guest list. Not terribly exciting, but it needs to be done. And when it's done, we can work on actually printing those pretty invitations!
But now it's bedtime. Just another end to another day in the life of an everyday bride.
I've been feeling sickish since the final weekend of Beau Jest, but it's been hitting me harder and harder. My bestie Kat got the flu...and I think that's what I have.
Ick.
I feel rather dreadful. P came over this morning we would could do some wedding related things, and I was just not feeling great. After he left I climbed into bed, and I've been there ever since.
On the upside, our trip to Michaels went well. I found a lovely collection of silk flowers to use for my bouquet, so expect some mock-up to show up soon!
And even better, we bought two kits' worth of invitations. They've just been put on clearance, so we bought up two kits. We'll need a total of four or five, but my coupons won't be valid until tomorrow at the earliest. And now, prepare yourself for some of the most terrible cell phone pictures taken from a bed EVAR. But I really want to show off my (unassembled) invitations.
Here's (a terribly shadowed picture of) the invitation kit. It comes with the pocketfolds, invitations cards, response cards and envelopes, precut ribbons, cards for driving instructions, printable address labels, and envelope seals.
And that's a terrible picture of what they look like in person.
I'm really excited. The blue is just the right shade, and even though it's technically supposed to be ivory, in person they look more like a super pale yellow.
This invitation is actually a lot prettier and elaborate than the initial ones we picked out, and I'm actually kind of glad that we had to go with this instead.
We're going to personalize it with really fun fonts. And I'm thinking about getting black and white photo stickers to stick on the right hand inside flap, because it looks slightly naked compared to the rest of the invitation. But I don't know; it'll depend on what a completely assembled invite looks like.
I'm really interested in Miss Rainbow's wedding. Like seriously fascinated. I've been planning my retro-inspired Alice in Wonderland wedding for three years now...and she just started planning her retro-inspired Alice in Wonderland wedding! I'm really surprised that someone would hit upon the exact same idea...yet we are completely different.
Her wedding (from the handful of posts she has put up) looks like Art Nouveau. Like this:
And this:
It's very Great Gatsby, very sunny garden party. I'm really excited to see how she incorporates Alice in Wonderland too- and why she chose Alice.
I chose Alice because she's been my favorite Disney character since I was but a wee lassie. My mother used to put the VHS tape in for me on Sunday afternoons when I was a toddler and I would fall asleep, mesmerized by Alice's adventures. When I was seven or eight I read the book, and was fascinated by it. Alice remained one of my all-time favorite literary and Disney characters.
When I was eighteen years old, I had the amazing opportunity to become a Walt Disney World cast member. Even better, I was selected for one of my dream jobs: I was made a Tour Guide on the Great Movie Ride. I spent six wonderful months getting held up by gangsters, running from bandits blowing up banks, driving cranky old trams, and basically having a merry old time in the Happiest Place on Earth.
(that's right, I photobombed Bogart and Bergman!!)
It was during my time on the Disney College Program that I rediscovered my admiration for Alice. I also discovered I was just the right height to play her. I was even extended an offer to play her, but turned it down in order to spend time with my brand new boyfriend, who was back home in good ol' Nashvegas. Although it was a bittersweet decision, it was the best choice I ever made: that boyfriend was Patrick, and he proposed just a year after we started dating.
I knew from the start that Alice in Wonderland was going to make a big impact on our wedding. Originally the colors were going to be pale blue and black- perfect for a classy, glamorous wedding. But the idea evolved...and evolved...and evolved.
The first thing I realized was that while many brides have lovely black-and-bright-color weddings, it didn't suit me. The elegant black slowly faded away to be replaced by sunshiny yellow. Now there were yellow roses (my grandfather's favorite flower) and daisies, and the whole mood of the wedding changed from a glamorous event to a hyper-happy party!
Fabric slowly wormed its way in as well. I have an almost unhealthy addiction to cloth. I started adding in two of my favorite fabrics: gingham and eyelet. Now there were bows everywhere (I also have a brilliant love affair with bows, btw) and ribbons and all sorts of charmingly mismatched patterns.
I still felt like something was missing. And then I realized it...the retro element!
I started getting into retro stuff a couple of years ago. I discovered a band called the Pipettes, and FELL IN LOVE WITH THEM. Seriously. Girl crush. Right there.
(They're typically not animated, by the way. They're usually real people.)
Once I started getting into music influenced by the '50s and early '60s, I started falling in love with clothes influenced by the time period. After that, it was only a matter of time.
Granted, the retro flair on the wedding is still subtle, but it's there. It's mostly in, well, the music and clothes. But it's a special touch that I'm simply in love with. It also tied it in surprisingly well with Alice in Wonderland. You see, Disneyland opened in 1955, and when it opened, women wore their pretty full-skirted frocks and pearls and gloves and heels (which sunk into the still-soft asphalt on opening day!). I really want to evoke that feeling.
(and no, I have no earthly clue why there's a can of black beans on the railing...)I still felt like something was missing, something that would finalize the vision that I had, the whimsical party I wanted to throw to celebrate FINALLY marrying the guy I've totally been in love with for the past three and a half years. And on Christmas, I found it in the form of a present. It was a storybook version of Alice illustrated by Mary Blair.
Mary Blair was a prominent Disney concept artist in the '40s and '50s. She was one of the artists Walt sent to South America, she created beautiful work for Song of the South, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Peter Pan (as well as some early early early images for Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast!), and she completely designed the whole look for it's a small world. Her illustrations completely summed up the look and feel I was going for: nostalgic, sweet, full of whimsy, and super playful. Add Alice in Wonderland, the '50s (Alice premiered in 1951), and a blue-and-yellow color scheme, and there you have it!
"But how," you may ask, "IN HOLY BLAZING HECK are you managing to incorporate all of this?"
Well, let me explain.
Wait, there is too much to explain. Let me sum up.
-A color scheme of blue and yellow (Alice's hair color and her dress color)
-The flower girl will be dressed as Alice
-The ringbearer will wear a vest with a pocketwatch (the White Rabbit...but suuuubtllle...)
-Topiary trees by the doors with white roses painted red (get it? Painting the roses red?)
-The flowers are inspired by the Garden of Live Flowers scene in the movie (lots of roses and daisies and bluebells)
-The guestbook is a copy of the aforementioned Alice in Wonderland storybook
-Playing cards as table numbers
-Lots of hanging pomanders and hanging Chinese lanterns (like the Mad Tea Party)
-The centerpieces are mismatched teapots filled with flowers and surrounded by floating candles in mini mason jars
-Instead of a cocktail hour, there's going to be a tea party
-Using a vintage Alice in Wonderland magazine ad from 1951 as the basis for our "hey, the wedding's here!" sign
And a bunch of other stuff that I'm too tired to think about right now...
So why am I babbling about this, you ask? Well, a couple of reasons. A lot of it is because I've explained what I'm going for, and really, telling people about your retro fabric-inspired Alice in Wonderland Disneyland on opening day wedding causes a LOT of raised eyebrows. It's nice to have my whole idea laid out and step back and see what it looks like. (And I'd like to hear what people think of it. Too crazy? Possibly...)
I also really want to be a Bee. (Seriously...someone tell me if I'm allowed to blog about the fact that I'm applying. Is this frowned upon? Or am I allowed to blog out my worrywart-ness? I don't know! So I shall keep writing!) And I don't know if I'm automatically out of the running because my wedding is potentially so similiar to a new Bee. I feel like I have a unique voice and a lot of quirkiness and a great wedding to blog about. Am I still being considered? I just don't know.
Oy.
Well, they haven't turned me down quite yet. And if I get rejected again, I'll try one last time. (I mean, if Mrs. Bunny got rejected twice, there's still hope for me!).
Gargh. This is like audition purgatory all over again. Except that instead of a pool of local actresses, I'm against a bajillion awesome brides all over the internetz.
Double gargh!
aaaaaaand rant is done. (And Guys and Dolls rehearsal!). Time for sleep. Tomorrow P and I shall purchase our invitations! That will be an adventure. I shall photograph it and be happy.
(But after sleep. After this SUPER LONG rant, I most def need the sleep.)
A friend of mine took them for us. We were a bit rushed because we didn't have much time. The pictures were taken on the set of Barefoot in the Park, and we had to get out before they set up for the show! Nevertheless, they're pretty cute.
Hopefully we can take some more pictures together. Not only because it's fun, but because P needs to practice making picture-faces!! He's still adorable, and I love him to death...but boy needs to learn how to smile properly for a picture.
I thought I would post some of my favorites here. :)
(See what I mean about him making awkward faces?) (I wanted the vintage fridge. But we borrowed the appliances from Tennessee Rep. And they were HEAVY! I know...I helped carry them to the truck.)
A while back I decided to overhaul my wardrobe. And recently I purged through my whole closet. It was an interesting experience. I've sorted through my wardrobe before, but I did this time with two ideas branded into my brain.
#1: I'm about to be a married lady instead of a little college girl, and I need to dress like one!
and
#2: I want to have a distinct style rather than my current one...which can basically be described as "whatever is on sale right now."
I pitched several pieces that I was holding on for no real reason. Like my button up shirts. After being forced to wear collared shirts for all four years of high school, I pitched my polos as soon as I graduated, but I held on to the blouses as a sort of safety net. I realized, thought, that I haven't worn them in forever. So out they went!
I went through a phase where I felt I needed a lot of "business professional" blazers. I had a couple...and hated them. They made me look top heavy and awkward and overdressed, no matter how or where I wore them. Out they went!
I also finally got rid of some pairs of hand-me-up shoes. That's what happens when your little sister is taller than you...she gives you her outgrown shoes. Some of them (like the gray plaid flats!) are terrific; some of them (like the kitten heel slingbacks with the awful velvet bows) needed to go.
The big thing I got rid of, though, are my skirts. I had a profound realization: I hate skirts.
Weird, right? I'm such a girly girl. You would think I would love skirts. But no.
Well, I guess to make this completely correct, I should say that I hate my skirts. I got rid of most of them- the ill-fitting khaki corduroy skirt, the ill-fitting denim skirt, the ill-fitting pink corduroy skirt (see the pattern here?) I also released my light blue peasant skirt and a hot pink floral skirt.
I like skirts, but I like mine with a vintage shape and vivid patterns. None of mine measured up (except for a brown and pink silk skirt that P lurrrvs), so I got rid of them.
My final realization was something that had been nagging at me for a while.
I dislike pants.
I own two pairs of jeans, a pair of khakis, a pair of brown pinstriped pants, and a pair of black pinstriped pants. And I dislike them all.
In previous years, I have worn these items in glorious abandon, pairing them with inexpensive knit fashion tops purchased from the clearance rack in the junior's department. Now that colder weather is upon us, I dread putting on these staples. They're just so dull and bland. Plus, the cheap knits are pilling and worn and faded. It is most disappointing.
I think I'm going to write out a game plan on how I'm going to go about this. I'm determined to start my new life as a wife (hey look, rhyming!) looking like a grown-up pretty girl, not an overexcited six-year-old who just learned to dress herself.
(Case in point: this is what I wore for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince midnight show...) (but this is what I would like to dress like, feminine and retro but not childish:) (and just for poops and giggles, my work uniform:) (lawlz polyester mom pants!)
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Kat and Emma and I also ventured forth to find their bridesmaids dresses, and yea and verily, we were victorious! My five lovely ladies shall be clad accordingly:
