Shopping Update and My Sequin Awareness Campaign

Whoa, who knew the world had such strong opinions on my fashion choices? I cross posted last night's entry on my facebook and got over a dozen arguments for one look or another - including one from my sister which repeatedly called each look (and mostly my amazing silver platforms, which are bright and shiny and tall and yet also comfortable at the same time) "cheep." Yes, I've already chided her on her spelling choices, and will take nothing she says seriously because she tried to use "Spice Girls" as a DERISIVE term - can you believe it? :)

It seems like most people are leaning towards the jeans, and that includes the bride - so I'll probably fall that way in the end. It's definitely more comfortable, but I appreciate any chance to dress up, so I'm a little sad to bail on the dress...perhaps I need more reasons to go dressy, hint hint social life?

And speaking of dressy, I have a little public service announcement for the world regarding something near and dear to my heart: sequins.

Sequins can hurt you.
And designers don't care.
We need to encourage RESPONSIBLE sequin usage.

In my mad dash shopping spree last night I saw sequins EVERYWHERE, which immediately made me happy - I try to wear something with glitter or shimmer or shine every day. But let's have a serious talk here about the dangers of sequins, and how to use them properly.


Example: this "Ombre Sequin Top" is currently on sale at Charlotte Russe, both in this black and an AMAZING and eye catching plumb. I have this top from a previous season in a fabulous teal blue.

Don't buy this shirt.

This shirt will cut your underarms to ribbons. That's right, it looks gorgeous and sparkly on the hangar, and seems alright at first when trying it on, but within 30 minutes you will slowly build up a rubbing feeling, then burning, then scratching, and finally cutting. Possibly followed even by bleeding. Sequins are sharp little buggers, and should never be used where they will come into direct contact with the skin, it's cruel and unnecessary.

I even tried to salvage it by wearing a little open shirt on top, thinking it would be another barrier to the offending sequins - it didn't work. The shirt has been retired, though I'm lax to donate it to the Goodwill and cause another unsuspecting woman this same pain.

Shame on designers for making these painful looks so damn attractive.

I tried on this one at Maurices, along with a fully sequined purple shift dress - both had the same sad problems. It was hard to weigh function over form, but it was the right thing to do.

So, in conclusion: I'm not anti sequin. I'm very pro sequin. I'm pro any sort of bling. But sequins need to be used responsibly, and it is only through greater awareness of sequin dangers that we can reform the industry and demand responsible bling-age. I'll leave you with an ultra-attractive shot of some of my sequin injuries just from TRYING ON these tops and dresses yesterday - yowza!