Week of March 26-April 1

[mrissa]

No mail this week. No fooling. I've finished up a few new things, so that should help with the mail shortage, and some stuff is due back any minute now. Still, bah.

I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, which has already been good in some ways and will turn out to be good in others before too long. I've got stuff to do here! I can't just waste time feeling sick! I made tacos for lunch, and missista and I walked the timprov, and I've been working on The Mark of the Sea Serpent, which is just about half done, I estimate, and I've been trying to figure out what we're going to do about artwork for the kitchen. Soon I will shower and put on real clothes and go for nice dinner and a play.

I'm doing that spring thing I do every spring, where I decide I hate every garment in my closet, and all the winter clothes are too warm and all the summer clothes are too cold and I'm sick of everything transitional, and then I look at catalogs and hate all of their clothes even more than mine, and then I swear I'm going to go naked. This happens every year. This year is slightly different: I swear I'm going to go around in just the amber jewelry elisem made.

I will get over it, but really, spring. I spend all fall happy with clothes, because either it's the last chance to wear summer stuff I like, or it's the first chance to wear winter stuff I like. I don't know why spring is the opposite, but it is. I hated spring until I went to Gustavus. I couldn't see why anyone liked it. Now I get it -- Minnesotans earn their springs -- but I still have this thing where my brain wants to fling everything away and shout, "GAHHHHH!" And I don't even enjoy gardening, so I can't take refuge in that.

Other than that, I'm in a very good mood and appreciating small things. But -- clothes. Spring.

Comments

[laurel]

I read a *lot* of catalogs and am a champion shopper, so if you give me some idea of what colors/styles you like, I might be able to point you toward some coolness.

'Course, I have the same problem every year. It's all aggravated by the fact that more than half my clothing is either still packed or in locations unknown, or else isn't the right size for me right now. (I'm losing weight at the moment, which will further complicate things; I try to hope this means I'll be able to fit into some old faves, assuming I can find them).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Here's what:
--I like intense colors, either dark or bright (but not neon). I have T-shirts in my armoire this year in colors called pomegranate, yam, amethyst, royal, and aruba.
--I wear something like a 4, but even though many places say their 4 is the right numbers, they often lie, and they often lie in such a way that I can't buy any of their fitted clothes. (Eddie Bauer is very bad about this. They say their 2 is 24.5 waist, 34.5 hip. It isn't either. Everything I've ever tried on from them in a 2 has been much bigger than that. They are dirty rotten liars. Good T-shirts, though: they wash really well.)
--I do not wear glitter on my clothing, nor do I wear sequins or beads or metallic thread. It's not that I dislike the look (although in many cases I do). It's that I really, really dislike the look when one or two of the beads works loose and is hanging funny and a sequin falls off and some of the metallic stitching is pulling loose...etc.
--I would rather pay a little more for a garment that will hang well and stand up to washing than get the cheapest version and have it fall apart after two washings.
--My ideal spring/summer outfit is probably an A-line short skirt in some pretty print, with a cute T or an easy-care blouse on top. I am also a sucker for many kinds of sundress, although I prefer to be able to wear bra with them.
--I am willing to iron if I really love an outfit, or to handwash, or to dry-clean, but those things are not at all my default for ordinary clothes.

[laurel]

The catalog that once again has my favorite stuff for spring is Boden. Great colors and classic/wearable styles. Prices vary from totally reasonable to "um, isn't that an awful lot?" but not outrageously so (like Anthropologie these days).

J.Jill has some stuff with more color this season (my big complaint with them is often that they have too much olive/brown/taupe/neutral stuff for my taste).

It seems like A-line short skirts are in good supply this year, though there are some places where bubble skirts seem more prevalent (gah).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I had never seen Boden before. Definitely added to my "stuff to buy" bookmark folder.

I like Anthropologie, but I have difficulty shopping there online. Their measurements vary so much! My favorite skirt is an Anthropologie skirt from two years ago, but I tried on 10 skirts that day and only two of them actually fit. So I should probably plan to go back up to France Ave. one of these days and try on skirts again.

A lot of my clothes are from J. Jill these days. Some seasons they go all grandma on me, and some seasons everything is pink, but they came through for me with the shirt in my default icon here, and they have jeans that actually fit my butt (and are comfortable, too), so J. Jill wins. They are the only retailer for whom I have a store credit card.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

you can't possibly go naked!

your feet would get wet. wear shoes, at least. ;)

[mkille.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're feeling better, and I hope you at least find clothes you can bear to wear out for a nice evening!

(And re: kalmn's comment, I think the suggestion she was looking for was your new boots...)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I did wear my new boots, but also a top and a skirt and some stockings and so on, so no one had to kick me out of the restaurant or the theater (which is in a church), or have me admitted to the hospital for hypothermia.

It was probably for the best, all things considered.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

My big spring clothing event thus far has been to start wearing my favorite light jacket again and be reminded (yet again) that I'm apparently a little too wide through the shoulders to wear fitted things with sleeves.

Sigh.

Double sigh.