Crazy as Fashionista?

Ok, so Friday and Saturday were spent - in their entirety - shopping.

On Friday, I went to one of those huge malls that has an upstairs floor and a downstairs floor, and I covered the length of the thing twice. I was there for about four hours. Then I went to Target. Then I went to Kohls. By the time I got home - and I'm not exaggerating when I say this - muscles all over my body ached. What did I buy? Well, I thought you'd never ask.

• This skirt, originally priced at $54 but on sale for $11.
• A Calvin Klein bra, on sale for $5.
  
• Leggings. Incidentally, I priced leggings at a variety of retail outlets, and if you're planning on being part of the legging trend, I recommend a) going out and buying those leggings now, because they are flying off the shelves, and b) trying to buy them someplace like Target, because in specialty retail shops and department stores they cost between $20 and $50 per pair, and if you're anything like me, that is just too much to pay for something like a legging. Also, In Style magazine recommends the capri legging, but as a legging veteran (something I'll discuss later), I must say that one of the brilliant things about leggings is that you can easily fold them under or scrunch them into a capri length if you buy the full-length kind (this being made easier by the 21st century materials with which the leggings are made) and so I think that the capri ones are not altogether necessary. Oh, and some of the capri ones? Yeah, they have a striking resemblance to the "bicycle short." Which is scary.
• Socks for working out. I just keep buying these. I probably have like 30 prs. What is wrong with me?
• Makeup. Glorious makeup at Sephora. I bought this (in black), and this (in purple), and this (in "pull over"). Note to makeup lovers: The Stila Smudge Pot allows those who don't have the steadiest of hands to replicate the J-Lo Hewitt Ghost Whisperer Eye in like 3 minutes, as long as you've got the right brush, but you can also use it to do a smoky eye, or to do just traditional sort of eye liner. It is awesome, and it does not run all over your eye because it's a gel and dries, not a cream. (Once upon a time I had a similar product made my Shiseido, and the problem with it was that it ran all over your eyes, so you had to set it with a powder shadow.) Also, I've got to say it, I think that plum colors are the makeup colors for fall. I had wanted to buy a lipstick in a more plum-y color (Lorac in Pleasure) and the smudge pot in plum, and it was not possible. God, I love makeup. Those who see me at work every day would never know it, though, because I rarely wear makeup to work. Or if I do I do the no-makeup-makeup, so people just think I look "rested" but don't really understand that it's because I'm wearing makeup.
  
• New sunglasses. My third or fourth pair this summer, because I keep losing/breaking them.

On Saturday, I decided to go shopping downtown. I browsed in Saks (where, incidentally, I really think that I will start shopping the sales once I hit my goal-size as it's not that much more expensive than other department store clothes - but only on sale, as otherwise I could never afford a pair of Theory trousers, for example), and then I went to Macys (where I can actually afford the clothes) and I bought this skirt, a sleeveless cream shell, and a taupe cardigan to wear with it. Then, I went to another mall-esque place (one of those outdoor thousand restaurants and like 20 stores sort of places that are cropping up all over the midwest) wear I tried on a bunch of clothes but ultimately only spent money at Borders, where I had a 30% off coupon, which I used to purchase the first 4 Harry Potter DVDs in a little box set and a Regina Spektor CD and Allan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty (which I should have owned long before now).

All told, I spent like 10 hours shopping over two days, if not more. And as you see, I didn't buy much. But I did try on A LOT. Some musings:

1. For the first time in at least five years I'm excited about fashion/clothes. I think that this is because the bohemian look that has been dominating for the past few years is on its way out. Can I just say that on people of my build the "bohemian look" has the effect of making one look like one has just gotten off of a boat originating in Bohemia? This is not the intended effect.
2. This season is the first time when I'm really experiencing the whole, "hey, I remember those clothes the first time around!" thing. This is both cool (I know what "looks" I can wear) and eye-opening (I realized, as I tried on pair of skinny jeans after pair of skinny jeans that my reluctance to be part of this trend has everything to do with the fact that when these were last in style, circa 1986, I had just developed a woman-body, was hanging around with a bunch of girls who'd yet to do so, and the skinny jean, or jeans with zippers on the bottom, etc. were the first clothes that I realized I couldn't - or shouldn't - wear, because they didn't look on me like they did on my little waif-like pre-pubescent friends).
3. I, having tried on about 14 different pairs of skinny jeans, do think that I will buy one pair of them, if I find a pair that is not too expensive and that doesn't make my hips look like a small country. (See, the thing with my body is that I'm high waisted, have broad hips but not much of a butt. Thus, the skinny jean, if too low waisted, etc., can really make me look like hell. If the waist is high enough, it can be ok.) But for every day, I think I'm going to go with straight legged jeans. They look more modern than the boot cut, but are more flattering to the Hips of Crazy.
4. Incidentally, the straight/skinny jeans are so much better what with the advances in materials made in the blue-jean industry.
5. Red is the new black! Love that!
6. All hail the return of the tunic!

I could go on, but I will not. I'm sure I'll be trying things on for about two more months before I really start with the buying. Why? Because this is what I do when I'm into fashion. I browse. I try on. I deliberate. I decide what I can wait to buy on sale and what I've got to get before it's gone. God, I love clothes.

(Oh, and somebody asked me about clothes for the job market. I'll do an actual post about this sometime, but when in doubt, my thought is that it's better to over-dress than to under-dress, and that when you do a convention interview, it can't hurt to look more conservative-business-y. On-campus you can be a bit more casual - and probably should be because of the miles that you will walk that day - but a great suit or two (ideally bought on sale, for suits go on sale right at Christmas time, and this great brown pant-suit I've got (Jones New York) which originally cost like $400, I bought on Dec. 26 (the day before MLA) for $98. It does not need to cost a million dollars to look great in a suit - just you've got to try on a LOT of suits to find one that, well, suits you. This is my overview, though. And if you look great you'll be smarter. And more impressive. Totally.)