Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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Sunday shopping: an adventure in culture clash.

Well, as I noted last week, my upcoming trip to New York and its business requirements have resulted in the realization that I Need Some Grownup Clothes. (Now, just to clear up a small misconception here: I do actually wear clothes on a fairly regular basis. I am not a big fan of wandering around unclothed. It's just that mostly, I'm a fan of T-shirts, tank tops, jeans, cut-offs, and corsetry. None of these are really what we'd call 'business-appropriate clothing.' Not unless I decided to get a job as the new receptionist for the Suicide Girls, and there, I lack sufficient piercings.) Not only do I Need Some Grownup Clothes, but I Need Some Grownup Clothes That Can Be Worn In New York In The Summer. New York summer is a very different sort of beastie than California summer, both in terms of fashion rules and, y'know, the part where it is ELEVENTY BILLION DEGREES AND HUMID. And yet we're the coast where you can practically get away with the formal bikini. Something is very wrong here, folks.

Luckily for me -- and by extension, for everybody else, since my madness tends to be contagious -- I have a Kate. Kate is originally from the East Coast. Kate understands the laws of fashion. And Kate understands that I am, in fact, an anthropologist from some slightly skewed parallel dimension, here to research your strange Earth customs, and thus really don't comprehend at all why I can't wear an orange and green patchwork pinstriped jacket in a business setting. Or why it's bad to go to a business meeting looking like a Batman villain. After watching me stumble through two stores with the shell-shocked expression of a Disney Princess thrust into a real-girl world, she took mercy and agreed to take me to the mall.

Most horrifying thing I have ever heard Kate say, just before we made the approach to the Sun Valley Mall: "Oh, doing the mall properly takes about eight hours."

(I am not a shopper. I am, in fact, a seek-and-destroyer. I can browse in book stores and comic book shops and the like, but just about everything else, I want to go in, grab what's needed, and get the hell out of dodge. The idea of spending eight hours in a mall is incomprehensible to me.)

We started in Sears, largely because that was where the door was, and quickly determined that there was no point trying more things on until we'd bought me a new bra. Kate's mission in life is to get all women into bras that actually fit. She has a rant. It's a really good rant, but I'm not as good at giving it as she is, so I'll just say 'we left Sears and went to Victoria's Secret.' All hail the Vicky's semi-annual sale. Further, all hail the way the really nifty colored bras always seem to wind up in the discount bin. Who has a neon-pumpkin-orange bra? Well, now, that would be me. Who is absolutely overjoyed about this fact? Again, me. Sometimes it's really good to be the sort of person who takes pleasure in the little things. Like orange lingerie.

Kate required food, so we relocated to another level of the mall, which turned out to be awesome, because the very first store we went into after feeding her was also the last one we visited on an actual mission. YES. We found me THE PERFECT OUTFIT. To be specific, we found me...

* A black pinstripe short-sleeved fitted suit jacket.
* Matching knee-length formal shorts.
* Also, the matching knee-length pencil skirt.
* Two different variations on the lace-embellished orange tank top.

Yes. We found a suit that is so formal and so classic and so cute at the same time that I can actually get away with accessorizing in orange. Also, the whole thing is super-cute; I put it on and I've instantly lost thirty pounds. It's amazing. I now fully understand the value of the fitted suit. Having shorts and a skirt means that I can decide day-of what I want to deal with wearing, and having two tank tops gives a second range of options, since they're embellished differently.

I still need to find shoes and appropriate jewelry; this is why I am now searching for something in an orange patent kitten heel. Which is a sentence I never thought I'd write. For jewelry, I'm on the market for something enthrallingly green, and have a few places to go looking. (I'm hoping I can wear my 'witch of ripe apple' pendant, but it's going to need earrings to balance it, as it's large.) I was actually looking at shoes on eBay. At last, Kate has triumphed. At last, I embrace the native costume of my adopted world.

Also, I am mad hot in this suit. So there.
Tags: kate, shopping, so the marilyn
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  • 13 comments
I can probably help with the earrings, I'd just have to hit a bead store, ideally in the company of you and the pendant.
Matching knee-length formal shorts.

Wow, I've actually worn suits for various work-type activities for years, but I've never even *heard* of formal shorts.

(And if being a published author involves all this... :( )
I've seen people wearing them, but they are generally reserved for an urban, downtown area. Don't see them too much in the 'burbs.

And the under 30 crowd.

They were in style -- but cut differently -- about 10 years ago too and I wore them to work all the time. I love how the current cut looks...but on other people!
really don't comprehend at all why I can't wear an orange and green patchwork pinstriped jacket in a business setting.

I... but...

can't?

(pout)
I say you can, but really it would depend on the accessories. And how the jacket is tailored, of course!
Kate's mission in life is to get all women into bras that actually fit. She has a rant. It's a really good rant, but I'm not as good at giving it as she is

...Does Kate have a typed copy of this rant anywhere? Because I give a similar rant sometimes, and would appreciate seeing someone else's for comparison.

Also, way to go on finding the awesome business attire! :D
Hehe. Yay, suit!

I have a rant about bra measuring, but that's just me. If you put me in the bra size they say "fits", the band is too tight and I feel like I can't breathe. Support's important. Not feeling like I'm suffocating is a bit more important to me, however.
You had me right up to "formal shorts". Right there I boggled, and stayed boggled. Bwwwaaah?
Long fitted shorts. Considering the suit she described I am picturing them with a cuff, straight legged, brushing just above the knee and possibly pin striped. Super cute!
ya! It sounds very cute
hmm, pumpkin earings probably woulden't go, right?
Really good clothes that fit right do wonders for sny figure. :-) I can picture the exact suit in my mind and it sounds wonderful.

Also really good bras are important, just to keep the Kittens in line.
JPG! JPG!

Also, Yay, suit!

Good luck on the upcoming trip to NYC!