Four Quarters of Fashion

Ladies, football season is almost upon us, and that means two important things: 1. boys in tight pants and 2. gameday fashion. I have seen Stacy and Clinton throw away many a sports jersey, and although I think those are acceptable for sporting events, as long as it fits you and doesn't look like you stole it from an offensive lineman, aren't there more flattering ways to show your team spirit? Answer: mais oui!

Start with your team colors. Though I have come around to the idea of dresses (casual not cocktail) at a football game--they can actually be quite breezy to beat the heat of a midday game...2:30 on CBS, anyone?--I cannot condone wearing a dress or anything else that isn't your team's colors, or worse, the other team's colors! I don't care if it's the cutest dress/top/whatever you own. Most sports teams have pretty basic colors, readily found in stores, and the ones that have very particular colors (i.e. Carolina blue) are so particular about the color being right that they're not hard to find either if you're local. And close is usually close enough. Am I always in crimson at Alabama games? Not always; red suffices as long as, again, it's not the other team's color. If we're playing a team with a similar color, I take much more care in matching my outfit to the crimson of our jerseys. I would wear a shirt like this with shorts, or jeans later in the season. Or if you'd rather have something that really says your team name louder than colors, go with options like these that are still cute, but licensed. In fact, I may buy these for myself...(And as you can see, the color thing isn't an exact science: even from the official Alabama shop, this tee is more red than crimson.)



Next step: accessorize. I almost have more Alabama earrings than I know what to do with; it's gotten to the point where I can wear a different pair every home game of the season without repeating any.

Not to mention my three Alabama-themed rings...

a script A pin, a houndstooth headband, two crimson belts...

and my beloved bejeweled elephant pendant, Manny (any Ice Age fans out there?).

Team jewelry is also a great way to solve the problem if, like me, your loyalties are a bit divided on fall Saturdays. I went to all of the Alabama games last year completely decked out for the Crimson Tide with one exception: a ring shaped like an alligator. (He didn't make an appearance at the Alabama-Florida game, but all the others.) A very small token of affection for my Gators without detracting from the rest of my Bama-themed outfit.

Plus, the normal rules of accessorizing (take one thing off before you go out) don't really apply here. If it's team-related, just pile it on.

And if you're feeling particularly adventurous, as apparently many Alabama girls are this season, use your fingernails as an accessory. Sally Hansen makes nail polish strips, in patterns. Houndstooth included. And every store in Birmingham that sells them is sold out. I finally ordered them online, and I can't wait to try them out. But even in my casual office, I don't know how well houndstooth nails would go down, so to tone it down, I'm just going to do one nail on each hand, and the rest crimson. If you aren't lucky enough to have the pattern to work with (though I think they came in tiger stripes, for the Auburn/LSU/Clemson/Missouri fans out there), there are other ways to improvise...

Yes, I pull for Oregon too. Yes, my loyalties are very divided. No, painting the words quack quack on my nails unfortunately did not help them win that game, but it was still pretty fun to do.

Before leaving your house, you need a purse, right? As much as I love my giant catch-all purses that I can throw my whole life into, keep in mind that most stadiums have size restrictions on purses for security reasons. Know what that limit is (at Bryant-Denny, it's nothing bigger than an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, and they mean business about it), and stay within it. Once I took a purse I thought was within the size limits (it was a little more than 11 inches long, maybe 12 or 13, but nowhere near 8 1/2 inches wide, so I didn't see a problem), and although they let me in with it, it was with a stern look and a warning not to bring that purse again. (I mean, how would they remember, but still.) Once I saw a girl throw her purse away because it was too big and they wouldn't let her in with it. Got everything she needed out of it, and just tossed it. Don't let this happen to you. Take a tiny purse, or put the few things you need in your pockets.

And lastly before you walk out the door, my favorite part of an outfit: shoes. Football Saturdays tend to involve a lot of walking and standing, so make sure your shoes are comfortable. I can count on one hand the number of times I have worn heels to a football game, and I will never do it again, as much as my new houndstooth pumps might tempt me this season. Even comfortable heels (which I would say 95% of mine are, under normal circumstances) are a pain after hours on your feet, hiking across campus and up a hundred thousand steps to your seat. If you really want to wear heels, more power to you (when am I ever going to discourage heels?), but there are enough flat sandals in my life (some of them crimson, no less) that I don't see this as necessary. And if you plan to take your heels off at the end of the night, stash some flip-flops in your tiny purse; seeing girls walk around barefoot makes me cringe. Think of the dirt, the tiny pebbles, the possibility of broken glass after a long day of tailgating. It's just a bad idea.

The countdown is on, only 16 days left until college football season! RTR.

Maxi Dresses...For Real This Time

Updated! Cleaning out the photos on my phone and realized I still had the one of the green dress that started this whole thing. Enjoy! :)

The original blog post, as follows:

After much consideration, I have finally pinpointed what it is about maxi dresses that drives me crazy (Aside from the fact that most people just don't know how to wear them, or what proper fit looks like. But then, isn't that true of most items of clothing?):

I don’t GET it.

I have recently discovered the wonder that is Pandora Radio, and the ads that come up most frequently are for one of those designer discount websites, and lately, what they’ve been showing pictures of more than anything is maxi dresses. My little fashion prodigy (shoutout to livinbohochic.blogspot.com!) and I don’t disagree on much, but maxi dresses are one of the few things that goes on her side of the Venn diagram and not in the overlapping middle. She has two, that I know of, and when she bought the first one, I told her I didn’t hate it, and that “I don’t hate it” was the highest compliment I could give that particular item of clothing. She accepts this about me, and we sort of just agree to disagree about the maxi dress. She looks cute in it, don’t get me wrong. I’m just in general not a fan.

Anyway, so the other day, I’ve got Pandora on at work as usual, and one of those ads comes up on the side, with a maxi dress. An emerald green maxi dress, no less. Emerald green is my color clothing weakness, so if ever a maxi dress were going to win me over, it would have been this one. But I actually liked the dress. It was fitted enough so that it didn’t look like a big sheet, low-cut without being too scandalous, and just overall a fun dress. So naturally, I took a picture on my phone and texted it to Christy, and told her I had finally found a maxi dress I could in good conscience approve of. She loved it too, but sadly they were sold out of the green, and so she sent me a link to another dress she had found. Imagine my surprise when I liked that one too! It had a tie at the waist for shape definition, good color (orange, a fine color as long as it’s not a football Saturday…roll tide…), and just in general a nice looking dress. (Check it out here.)

Two maxi dresses in one day, what is the world coming to?!

That’s when I realized, it’s not (always) the dresses themselves that are the problem. As a matter of fact, that designer discount website has quite a few maxi dresses that I think are pretty cute. They fit well (aside from the obvious, that you can't see any leg under there), they come in fun colors and patterns, and interesting shapes (the green one is actually a convertible dress, so you can wear it 10ish different ways...)…so what’s the problem, you ask? I said it myself while I was texting Christy: I liked that green one because it looked like an evening gown. Which are, by definition, of a similar shape to maxi dresses, with hems down to the floor. Yet, I have no problem with those. I mean really, who doesn’t love a super-glam evening gown? Isn’t that why we all watch the Oscars? What’s the difference?

The difference is that maxi dresses have no practical place in my life. Granted, neither do evening gowns 99.99% of the time, but say I’m going to a black tie event…there. A place in my life. Maxi dresses are (supposedly) a casual item of clothing. So I’m supposed to wear it…running errands? Great, can’t wait to sweep the floor of Wal-Mart with the hem of my dress. At the beach? And cover up more of my skin that won’t get tan? No thank you. Hanging out with friends? I live in Alabama. In the summer, when maxi dresses make their inexplicable appearance, it’s a cool day if the temperature stays below 90. If I’m going to be spending any length of time outdoors, my goal is to wear as little clothing as possible without being arrested for public indecency. So why in the world would I put on a floor length skirt? Exactly, I wouldn’t. It just doesn’t make sense.

So there you have it. I don’t get it. That’s why I don’t like maxi dresses. It just does not compute in my head.

Christy dear, do I hear a rebuttal blog post coming on Livin’ Boho Chic?? ;)

Blog Challenge : Maxi Dresses

Yesterday, I wrote a blog about maxi dresses. And when I told Christy about it, including the suggestion that she write a post in comparison, she suggested this: The Blog Challenge. Maxi dresses are one of very few things that she and I disagree on fashion-wise (actually, nothing else even comes to mind at the moment), so she thought it would be fun if each of us wrote a blog from the other’s point of view on this controversial piece of clothing. I told her I wasn’t sure if I could, and after some hesitation, she said she wasn’t sure she could see my side either.

But we’re giving it a go anyway. So Christy, this one is for you and your maxi dresses!

Reasons maxi dresses are a great item of clothing:

1. They are boho.

I suppose the right maxi dress could go so far as to be boho chic. I’m not familiar with the particulars, although that is the name of Christy’s blog, so sure, we’ll call them boho chic. Nothing says boho like a nice long skirt. I don’t know why that is…but hey, why not?

2. They protect against sunburn.

No sunscreen? No problem! Just cover your legs with a nice long maxi dress and you’re good to go.

3. Speaking of covering your legs…

Forgot to shave but still want to wear a skirt? Solution: maxi dress.

4. They are trendy.

Not to say that you should wear a maxi dress (or any other item of clothing) just because it’s “trendy”, but incorporating trends into your wardrobe, in a way that works for you, keeps your look current.

Okay, I give. I can’t think of anything else. Christy shouldn’t have nearly this much trouble coming up with reasons maxi dresses are no good ;)