Studly Fashion

Yesterday my sister and I took advantage of the holiday weekend and went shopping. Now, it's been a little while since I went clothes shopping. Since we bought a house back in June, my closet space has expanded but my budget has shrunk. Besides, in a way I was using clothes and shoes as a void filler, and now that I have a house of my own I'm not quite so inclined to spend loads of money on new ones.

I still do love fashion, though, and as seasons change and shoes and clothes wear out, the time does come to replace certain things. The problem that I had, though, was that it seems as though fashion designers are not taking an "editing eye" to their latest lines.

It became very clear that embellishments are hugely in style right now. I noticed this past year that studs were creeping into fashion, and then flowers, and then random ruffles. Now it seems the military look is in, but it's being combined with studs and ruffles and flowers and buttons and chains and sequins and..and..and..and..it was like someone went back in time and unleashed the 1980s on Ft. Knox, after giving it a hefty dose of sugar and a bedazzler. Everything had some form of embellishment on it. I like those things in moderation. When you have one top that has ALL of those things on it, it becomes a bit much. I can just imagine walking down the hall at work in one of those things. There'd be some hugely important meeting going on, and from within the board room they'd hear this:

"clink clink clink clink clink clink"

Really, just pair it with some corduroy pants and I could start my own symphony just by walking. Either that or convince people that the ghost of christmas past was wandering the building, rattling chains and bewailing the state of humanity.

It makes me think of being a kid and making barbie clothes out of fabric scraps and whatever shiny crap I could find to sew on there. Rhinestones? Fantastic. Buttons? Perfect. Beads? Yes, please. Chains? Why not?

I didn't wear that much hardware when I was into the goth scene, decking myself out in bondage cuffs and dog collars. I had buckles on everything you could put a buckle on, and I still wasn't as bad as one of the dresses I saw. I can't imagine what going through a metal detector would be like (well, I can imagine what it'd be like at the local court house. The deputy manning the metal detector would determine that I am female, young, and thus not possibly smuggling anything in under my skirt, and would wave me on in a bored manner).

Really, is it so much to want something simple, or only slightly decorated? When you've got more metal on your chest than a high ranking military general, there just might be a need to cut back a bit. Not everyone needs to look like Houdini before he makes his grand escape.

Oh well. I do think some cute things have come from this trend, when the embellishments are used in moderation and don't dominate the entire outfit. Hopefully the trend will pass before we all go around sounding like someone threw a handful of pennies into a washing machine.

Here Comes Santa Clause

About two weeks ago I went to Macy's on a quest for new pillows. Our current ones are getting to that "too flat to be comfortable" stage, so I figured I'd check out the sales and see if they had anything that appealed to me.

They keep the housewares on the third floor at the Macy's here, so as I rode up the escalator, I found myself at eye level with something that I did not quite expect to see.

Christmas decorations. Directly across from the top of the escalator, Macy's had set up their Christmas department. Artificial trees festooned with blown glass ornaments glittered in the glow of a thousand little twinkly lights. Tinsel adorned the walls and the railings. I think if you went into the Christmas department and stood still for more than a minute, you'd sprout a fine patina of glitter like mold growing on bread.

I am of course all for Christmas. I like it well enough. I can be holly jolly and dreaming of a white christmas while I deck the halls. But it's not even October yet. Halloween hasn't come and gone. Thanksgiving has yet to pass. Isn't it a little too early for the dizzying displays of Christmas cheer? I need the time to enjoy the smell of pumpkin spice and cloves before they start trotting out the freshly cut pine and apple cinnamon scents in stores. Give me a little more time with my gargoyles and pumpkins and rubber bats before you start assaulting my senses with Santa's plump and cheerful visage.

That being said, I have started to keep an eye out for Christmas presents. I've already found something for my mother. But I still want to look around and see grinning jack-o-lanterns while I peruse the stores. Give me garlands of felted ghosts, or give me..well. Give me garlands of tinsel, apparently.