How I rolled: Ikea/Costco

Okay, I'm not trying to get all Gwen Stefani on you, but I totes looooooooooooooooove Asians. In my next life I aspire to come back as one (but only if I'm a girl again, for obvs reasons). They are crazy and awesome and are clearly born with some sort of special fashion gene, because even the dorky ones always look super kakkoii! I cannot tell you how many times I've asked myself W.W.A.D. (What Would Asians Do?) while getting dressed for the day. I have had an Asian-inspired haircut for years. Even their language is adorbs!

This is me doing my best giggling Asian impression:





Anyway, circa 2006ish--when I was seriously living, eating and breathing horror films--one of my bootlegging bros introduced me to the Kinji Fukasaku film Battle Royale which I'm pretty sure was not released in the USA at the time. I had completely forgotten that film until I put this outfit on.



The dress is something I picked up during my pregnancy, and it was my go to piece when I wanted to feel fashion-y and cute in spite of the fact that I looked like I'd swallowed a watermelon whole. And Baby thought carrying a watermelon was bad?? At least the bitch could put that shit down! (BTW, if you didn't get the Dirty Dancing reference, you're so not my friend.) I didn't wear much "maternity clothing" when I was preggers. I tended to pick up pieces I'd be able to wear in the aftermath, but to be honest I've kind of shied away from a lot of them for several reasons:

1.) Despite losing pretty much all my babes weight, I still don't have a terribly flat stomach, so sometimes clothes that looked good when I was with child still make me look like I am. Not cool.

2.) The vast majority of the clothes I bought back then were empire-waisted, and since I'm still working with full Ds and have a short torso to begin with, they make me look much larger than I am. I learned this from watching every episode of What Not to Wear during those first few post-partum months when it was impossible to sleep. Thanks, DVR.

3.) Part of the fun of losing baby weight is buying new clothes to celebrate!

So anyway, I busted this baby out of the back of my closet the other day because I really felt like wearing a dress, but it needed to have sleeves since it wasn't that warm. Normally, I would probs throw a cardi over this type of situation, but my inner Stacey and Clinton were yelling, "Structure!" and that's when I had the Battle Royale flashback. When I googsed it, I was surprised to see how monochromatic their outfits actually where. But whatevs, this outfit says Asian Schoolgirl on Acid to me, and I am all about that.



Just pretend like these are blurry on purpose. Shut up, it's artistic.



Also, for as long as I can remember, I have snatched up any blouse/dress I could find that even remotely featured a neck-tie/ascot reference, so this one was sure to make it into my collection.







Anyway, yes I seriously wore this to Costco and Ikea. I know that perhaps many people do not see a trip to a price club as a reason to wear a dress, howevs I disagree. I feel about dresses now like I did about heels before: it is always the right occasion to wear them. Yes, I will pretend that the Costco aisle is a runway. I'm not scurrrred.



And when I realized that this dress is the exact same shade of blue as these shoes I've been sitting on forevs, I was stoked. Although I don't normally match my shoes exactly to my apparel this was just too good to pass up, mainly because these things are practically slippers so all slip and fall worries due to rain were eradicated. Score.



So Asia, I love you. Thanks for the inspiration.



And that's how I rolled. :) So the photos are no longer grainy, howevs now most of them are blurry. Clearly, I still have much to learn about this crazy digital camera technology. Bear with me, ya'll, we'll get there. Mwah!

Blazer: Ann Taylor Loft via Gabriel Bros. ($10?)
Dress: Lux (UO), via Gabriel Bros. ($5.99)
Tights: Daffy's ($5)
Shoes: Dollhouse (gift)
Feaths headband: UO via Gabriel Bros. ($2.99)
Earrings: Gabriel Bros. (gift)

xoxo,
-M.