de-pretty

I do love this dress - as soon as I saw the print, I was 85% sold. The 15% of hesitation comes from the fact that I'm always a little "hmmm" about anything knee-length, because I feel the need to de-pretty it, but I never quite know how to.

My friend says that by virtue of my decidedly un-girly looks and un-girly personality (conventionally speaking), I don't have to worry about de-prettying anything. I'm not entirely convinced by that argument, because a pretty dress is a pretty dress; by putting it on, I'm simply putting a pretty dress on a non-girly girl, it doesn't change the "pretty" of the dress.

My usual tactic is to wear black tights, which helps just a wee bit. But it's very hot here, and I lack the devotion to a look to want wear tights in the heat. My second tactic is to wear flip-flops, which is plenty unimaginative. But I am not quite the sort of personality that can throw on Chucks or DMs with a pretty dress and pull it off. I also do not own any "fierce" shoes because they're usually heels, and heels and I have never managed to make friends.

The final option I could muster up from my uniformic wardrobe was my gladiator sandals.



Slight de-prettying there. Will continue to ponder my options (layer with tees? tanks?), but at the very least, it's a cute dress no? Yet another sale buy at Topshop, a steal for S$39 (50% discount). I wonder where this stuff comes from and why I never spotted them before the sale? Perhaps the idea of of landing a cheap buy makes me a more industrious shopper.

Anyway, in a bid to track my wayward spending, I have decided to list the things I buy for pleasure each month - namely fashion-related items (clothes etc), books, CDs - on my blog under the 'Bought' list at the side. No, I haven't mustered the nerve to list my dining expenses (it's not normal to eat S$18 scrambled eggs when you can make them yourself right?). One must start somewhere.