Being back at my mother’s house for the holiday has me twenty types of nostalgic. Lance and I are from the same hometown, so any trip here is a myriad of “Remember this…” and “Were you there for that?” The fact that this trip started with a Thanksgiving Eve bar show featuring bands we used to watch as teenagers was just an added sentimental bonus.
It’s fun to think about all the weird thoughts you had as a teenager. I remember secretly hoping I’d get a job you’d need to dress up for — which I regretted almost instantly after actually getting. I thought working at a store that sold books and/or music would be the coolest, and after doing both I can report that while they weren’t awful they definitely weren’t great. I thought it would be a worthwhile investment to purchase a rainbow of colorful eyeliners, which… I won’t even start on that. And I recall thinking that I’d need a lot of ‘going-out tops’ for when I’d be of bar-hopping age.
So many things turned out to be wrong with that. First of all, I met my now-husband when I was nineteen, so ‘going out’ never became a common activity in the way rom-coms present it. I then formed a friend group who prefers cats to clubbing, so my small set of ‘going-out tops’ collected dust in the back of my closet with old Halloween costumes while we spent Saturdays getting drunk in my living room watching old episodes of Buffy. The tops have slowly made their way to garage sales or donation bins, but a few remain — both black and gold, so I should honestly narrow it down to one at this point — and are always begging to be brought out to the bar.
When I try the elusive ‘going-out tops’ on, I find two big issues: I’m cold when I wear them, and I don’t like how they look with skinny jeans. I’m a little top-heavy, so a tight blouse + tight pants + heels makes me feel kind of like a Sim created by a pre-teen with serious ‘going out’ aspirations. (Guilty.) They don’t handle large meals well, and frankly I’m not that interested in clothing I couldn’t eat a whole pizza in. And since they’re made to be the focal point of the outfit, any jacket takes away from the glam, which means I have to be cold, which is worse than all my previously mentioned complaints and is one of the main reasons I like to stay at home in the first place.
But I forgot to do my laundry, so I decided to try the ‘going-out top’ on again when we were shooting blog photos last week.
Currently wearing, ‘The Claire’ heels, c/o Claire Flowers [HERE] | Blouse, Halogen | Crossbody Rebecca Minkoff purse, Nordstrom Rack | Moto jacket, Express [HERE] | Necklace, Fable & Lore [HERE]
To take my sparkly top out of my misguided mindset and into normal adult weekend plans, I paired it with cuffed boyfriend jeans, a moto jacket, comfort-focused heels, and a rad necklace from St. Louis’ Fable & Lore. If I don’t want all tight clothing, I don’t need to wear all tight clothing — JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FIGURE YOU LIKE DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE TRYING TO SHOW IT OFF ALL THE TIME, TEENAGE JULIA, WHY WERE YOU SO CONVINCED OTHERWISE?
But I digress.
Maybe there is room in my adult wardrobe for something I so wholeheartedly believed I’d need ten of as a teen. Is it time to reevaluate the eyeliners, too? Doubtful.
P.S. Use code GOODKARMA on Black Friday (so today!) to get 10% off your Fable & Lore jewelry, and know that 10% of sales will be donated to the water protectors at Standing Rock.
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