Hither and Thither

I did something yesterday that I hardly ever do: I went to Marshall's. As in, the discount clothing store. I'll occasionally go to the factory outlet mall up in Allen, but I rarely venture into Marshall's.

I'll gladly go into Neiman's Last Call Clearance Stores and sift through racks of sequined miniskirts - which I never need right then but usually end up "needing" at some point a few months later, when I kick myself for not buying them - and black silk harem pants, which, again, I want but do not buy.

But I do not go to places such as Marshall's very often. As I've grown increasingly frustrated with my search for halfway decently priced clothes that don't make me look like Frumpmaster 5000, however, I've begun to expand my hunting grounds.

So, although I went to Marshall's and tried on 15 things, I only brought one home with me: a black and white striped t-shirt dress that I can wear with a black cardigan and heels to work or with flats for play.

I've been thinking a lot recently about the clothes I gravitate to in magazines (versus those that I find in stores and can afford) and I think I know what draws me to certain clothes rather than to others: proportions.

Just as my body is somewhat oddly proportioned - that short torso creates problems with boned strapless dresses; narrow ribcage + square shoulders = what the hell size am I supposed to buy in shirts? - I like my clothes and accessories to be "off." This is possibly the reason I have a fixation on over-sized purses and chunky bracelets to dangle from my rather small wrists.

Granted, I also like bracelets because they're shiny, and I'm a bit of a magpie. A recent refrain in conversation with my mom is (from me) "That would be awesome gilded."

And, okay, insofar as purses are concerned, there's also the fact that, if ever evicted from an apartment, I could live in one of my out-sized handbags.

Except the suede one, because it would be ruined in the rain.

But seriously, also, there's the proportion thing. It's the best I can come up with, right now.