Dressing for the occasion.

My latest issue of 'Worn' arrived the other day so I took the opportunity lent to me by a couple of days off work to snuggle up and read through it with a cup of tea and a slice of parkin. I found one article in particular to be really interesting. Stegelmann wrote about her wedding and the obstacles she faced in finding a dress in the run up to the big day. She didn't want a traditional one (she wasn't having a traditional fancy pants wedding) but she found it difficult to be happpy with whatever she was finding. In the end she wears a really lovely, vintage, yellow silk wiggle dress. But what she learns about dressing is far more interesting than the actual outfit chosen. Here is a little paragraph that I really appreciate

"From religious leaders to garbage collectors, we all have outfits for everything we do. Our clothes help establish our place in the world. I hadn't wanted to care about what I deemed to be the superficial trappings of a wedding....I'd only considered what the wedding meant to me, to us. But, like so many other rituals, a wedding is for the guests. It lets the people who love us gather, celebrate, and acknowledge a change in circumstance. In some weird way, it holds the same significance as a funeral. We are pack animals and we celebrate (and mourn) together. And whether we're in white or black or yellow printed silk, dressing for the occasion shows respect and a willingness to participate. You don't have to look the same as everyone else, but you have to mean it."

She goes on to describe her brother overheating in his "buttoned shirt and necktie", her editors new gold shoes that had given her such blisters that "she'd actually left bloodstains on the heels" and her own narrow cut dress made her hop up and down the lawn but "there we were, breathless and blistered and grinning like idiots".

Isn't that such a sweet and truthful observation?! The number of times I didn't put any effort into my outfit choice and would wear my day to day clothes for special occasions now makes me cringe. My Mum still doesn't like what I wear, but at least now she appreciates that I put effort into the outfit and therefore that makes her happy. It's not about fitting in, it's about making the effort. I think that's the reason I always cry in teen films when a young person makes the effort of getting ready for an event and ends up getting crushed becuase teenagers don't always make the effort so it's that much more special when they do (massive generalisation there!). Classic examples are...

Ross in Friends getting dressed up to take Rachel to the prom when her date doesn't show up, but then he does show up and Ross is left behind....

That bit in Never Been Kissed when Drew Barrymore is all dressed up in her hideous pink monstrosity and thinks she's going to the prom with the cool guy but it's all a big joke and....oh....god....I cry EVERY time (not that I have watched this film more than twice).

90s slut not 90s schoolgirl.

I have been a little obsessed with 90s slut fashion recently. I'm using the term 90s slut fashion to differentiate between the style that Monica from Friends or teen drama schoolgirls might have favoured vs the things I imagine Drew Barrymore or one of "the supermodels" would've flung on for a party. It involves more black, more skin tight stuff, more tight, high waisted jeans, more slicked down centre partings, more big hair in big waves rather than a tight perm, less knee high socks, less neat plaid (because there's such a thing as scruffy plaid which would require a whole different post entirely), less vest tops layered over tshirts more cut outs and cropped tops. It's sexy 90s not quirky 90s. So, here are some images that are really inspiring me right now...





Compare to these images below. With the machy-matchy plaid and woolen tights there is a definite lack of slut about them. (Note the girl behind Brittany in the 3rd photo- POWERFUL look there).



I wish I felt comfortable going out in this outfit in it's entirety as it is laid out here- but unfortunately I'm not. Instead I wear some of the items but then cover up a bit more with say, some black palazzo pants rather than the cycling shorts, or a big, black tshirt over the shorts rather than the polo neck top. The belt is actually my old belt that I had to wear for the Polish scouts (harcerze) when I was a kid but I pulled it out of obscurity a few year ago and I wear it all the time.



American Apparel top and cycling shorts, Dico Copenhagen shoes, old belt and topshop nail varnish in parma violet.

I also really want these beauts...



Givenchy shoes. Bra top, dress, tie dye shirt and shoes all Monki (Why do you not open a shop in London Monki?! Why, Oh why?

Unfortunately these are all impossible for me to attain either because of prices or location. Katie has just bought a black Carin Wester skirt with a big slit up one side though which is my next dream buy to go with my 90s slut obsession. That and some lip liner.