December 21, 2008
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What Truly’s like when she has a hissy fit
Only insane people and those with Sunday shifts were outside today. I woke to a morning that was twenty below, with “blowing snow.”
I am having a wardrobe crisis.
I tried to “extend” my wardrobe by wearing leggings (I own 2 pairs) and cardigans (okay, cardigan–there’s only one) over summer dresses. But that just ain’t cutting it anymore. I ordered 4 tall girl sale sweaters online (I can’t shop most places, since my arms wingspan is crazy-long), but they’ve not arrived yet. I also ordered some cool brown flat ankle boots and a pair of black grown up loafer-y things, since I’ve just had freezing feet at work while wearing ballerina flats (I wear hiking boots and wool socks to commute in, and I’ve got to say: I have a really nice pair of hiking boots and plenty of nice wool socks.). Grown-up Shoes: also not in yet.
In the meantime, I’ve just been freezing and wearing so many layers that I look like a bag lady. Luckily, so does everyone else. We’re all a bunch of bundled mummies in Chicago during winter. Mummies in snow-boots.
I don’t know why I never have the right things. I suspect its to do with the fact that I’m a captive audience with no money, meaning: I require things in Tall sizes and those things rarely go on sale because stores know Amazons need them. So I make do and buy things that don’t fit and make due with looking atrocious and inapporpriate 90% of the time. I tell myself I don’t care, but I do. I get cold. I get embaressed. I get sick of wearing grays and blacks and nutral colors that mix and match and have nothing to do with anything I like but easily make multiple outfits. I’m sick of having cold arms, a cold torso, shirts that creep up whenever I move to expose my low back and sides to the chilly air.
Anyhow, sorry to get all girl-y. I just had a massive hissy fit while packing. Because I forgot to bring my ballerina flats home from work today, meaning I get to wear hiking boots to every occasion in Michigan. Along with the two sweaters that I own, one of which is a ratty-ass three-quarter-length that my lower arms freeze off in. Oh! And let’s not forget the gray short-sleeved V-neck sweater whose bleach-stains I hide with that 8-year-old mis-shapened belted cardigan thing. The other sweater is actually pretty cute. I’ll save it for Christmas day.
I sometimes get on these kicks where I think I’m going to “get it together” and start dressing less like a starving college kid and more like a 27-year old museum administrator. But I never buy the right things. Or I only can afford to buy one right thing. Or I buy 4 right things online and use my charge-card, even-though I promised myself I wouldn’t. Because what’s the point? By the time I pay for it on the charge-card, those sweaters will be just as ratty as everything else, for I am a debtor just like the bloated country I come from.
I envy men, who can get away with only having one pair of shoes. I hate that they always get to be warm and have clothes that are flattering to most forms. Men don’t have to deal with stupid fashion ideas like the short-sleeved turtleneck sweater (if its cold enough for a turtleneck, why would you require short sleeves?!) or the three-quarter-length sweater (again: if I’m wearing a SWEATER, I’m probably freezing. This does not exclude the lower third of my arm.).
I’ll stop ranting now. I think I just needed to purge the angst. And warn my mom (who sometimes reads this) that I might need to borrow something warm to wear.
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What was your last hissy fit about?
Comments (4)
I can’t recall my last full-on hissy fit.
I do know, though, that I’m way addicted to consignment shops. Maybe “addicted” is a bit much, but I do like them. You can get great finds in some of them for not much money. And if you go to one in a tony neighborhood, chances are it’s got stuff that’s good that is pretty much in style and isn’t used much. I’ve gotten a couple of cute sweaters (in all fairness, I have the wingspan of a sparrow, so maybe it’s easier for me) for about $12 each, and I got a *brand new* pair of suede Cole Haan loafers for less than half what they’d be in the store. So, all hissy fits aside, maybe you can find some good stuff that way, too.
To get even cheaper, if you have some time to spend and can work up a good dose of patience, Goodwill is always an option. At the start of the season, I snagged an Old Navy sweater that still had the tag on it (I usually avoid Old Navy like the plague because their stuff fits me weird, but this sweater’s pretty cute!) . You do have to have patience to go piece by piece through all the racks and a little imagination to see that something might not look great on the hanger, but just might be worth trying on in case. I usually go with a goal in mind, a certain item I want to really look for, then just glance through other stuff. Otherwise I get overwhelmed and angry depressed. Like I said, I’m not fond of shopping. You can usually find some good shoes there, too, in a range of sizes. Of course, there’s the Salvation Army, too, but I don’t like them because they don’t allow gays in theri programs (or so my dad tells me) and they tend to have higher prices. I don’t have the patience to go too often, but other than that, I depend on christmas and birthday gifts and the occasional crisis-calming buy for all my clothes. Lucky for me, a non-profit Arts Center is a step down from a museum in the nice clothes requirements.
I would think that you’d be having less trouble these days, since one of the trends is long torsoed tops. But I guess long in the torso doesn’t mean long in the sleeve…
I had to laugh about the short sleeved turtleneck. I always think that when I see them too!
I have thought about you while clothes shopping before and how hard it is to find things with length. I am going to be an enabler here, but IMO if you find quality things that fit online and that you like, then GET THEM! I wouldn’t kick yourself too hard since you know good and well you’ll pay those suckers off post haste. And it’s not like you’re able to go overboard in the shops around you.
I would say that H&M has some long trends going (or last I checked) but while they used to be reasonable for the dubious quality, they’ve hiked their base prices and with how sketchy they can be stitching and fabric wise, it’d be like burning money. I have been looking for longer stuff myself and I am not tall, still, every long butt covering warm sweater I find has sleeves that will wash up to be above the wrist. So that would definitely three quarters for you. Brrr and annoying!
You deserve not to freeze. No Truly popcicles!
Very effective material, thank you for this post.
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