Rock out with your socks... er, on

A few weeks ago my mother gave me a bagful of goodies from Loehmann’s—her favorite place to go shopping for designer stuff and—I’ll admit—one of mine as well. As well as a Calvin Klein raincoat and brand X dress that looked very 1950’s housewife-ish (in a flattering way I swear) I also got a pair of gray of thigh high socks with pink seams and pink roses up the sides. It was very Betsey-looking though I don’t have any idea who actually did design them. At any rate, they’d been sitting in my sock drawer ever since then, untouched. Every couple of days I’d look at them longingly, promising myself I’d stop being so lazy and pick an outfit to wear around them.
And today I did! Hey, the mercury went up to a whopping 27 degrees with no wind—so… no excuse to put on skinny jeans and practical boots and call it a day.
Now in case you’re wondering what the purpose of this post is, here goes.
If you have some kooky thing in your wardrobe that you enjoy looking at, you’ll probably enjoy wearing it even more. So it’s worth the effort to leave your comfort zone.
(Mine lately being skinny jeans and slightly loose fitting tops that show my bra straps. Not a fashion faux pas as long as your bra is a pretty color like red or fuchsia. My own personal rule. But still... it gets boring after a while.)
Anyway, the important thing is to give yourself some time to do that one kooky item you’re not sure how to wear justice—weather it’s a sky-high pair of platform wedges or an antique hat with a taxidermied bird on it or a vintage fur. Then just wear it with confidence. If you have to spend an hour trying on stuff, so be it. It’s worth it to have an outfit that’ll make you feel good all day whenever you wear it. The other important thing to remember—and this is going to sound like a contradiction of what I’ve just said—don’t overthink it. Spend too much time deciding whether one pair of shoes or top goes better than another and you’ll just end up in jeans and a t-shirt out of frustration.

What I did was pick a theme—vintage dolly—and run with it.
I ended up wearing my flowerific socks with a poofy layered black skirt from Anthropologie. It was knee length so you couldn’t see the subtle black lace of my pantyhose under the socks, except for glimpses. On my feet I wore a pair of short lace up boots with a low heel. I’ve had those things a million years, but something like Oxfords or any peep toes high heels would have worked just as well. Then I put on a gray top from Forever 21 with mesh on the cleavage area to match—but not compete—with the socks. I completed the look with a black velvet coat from Anthropologie and a beaded black headband.

My husband looked at me like I was crazy, but then kept telling me how hot my legs looked.