What's a Girl to Do with Her Groupons?

Simply Soles Groupon Choices by dcceline

I have 2 SimplySoles Groupons. Yes. 2. So a girl's gotta figure out what she's going to use them on. I'll take suggestions from the Infintessimal Readership.

I gave in to trend...

I hit Tyson's on Saturday afternoon, hoping beyond all hopes to add some roomy but stylish garb to my wardrobe (I'm in a terrible between phase, where most M clothes look huge and cow-like on me, but "regular" stuff is iffy. Even my new beloved Phillies jersey won't button over my bump. Sigh.).

I did shop, and I did find a few things, including today's Pretty-Woman-polo-scene-inspired dress. Granted, it's navy & white rather than brown & cream, but it's shapely and sweet, and I can wear my Modern Vintage riding boots (score from the spring DSS) with it.

H yelled at me when I got home, because I'd bought bags of things for The Bean, Original Version. She needed things, daggoneit. Thin cotton pants won't do for an October playground, and sunhats are only good for so long...a pumpkin beret and two courdory caps were necessities.

The big purchase, though?

Booties.

Sigh. Never thought I'd go there. I couldn't stand them in high school, the first time around. They've been wearing me down this time around, unlike their blue/black plaid lumbershirt counterparts (shudder, seriously). BlueSuitGirl and I were both coveting a particular military-inspired grey pair on a pitstop to our Girls Weekend a while back.

So I bought them Saturday (on sale, too!). If my back weren't killing me today (sigh again), I'd be wearing them, paired with tights and a skirt. Can't wait to show them off.

Style Flashback: Not Like Teen Spirit - it just smells

Really.



I've got to get skilled at snapping people's pics with my cameraphone on the sly. Pretend I'm txting or something.



I didn't figure it out until I got back to the car, and by then, well, it would've been painfully obvious.



After mommy's Big Night Out at the ballgame (go Phils!), I stopped at the Tenleytown CVS to pick up diapers. Fun.



On my way out, there was a gaggle of girls I'll assume were AU students (maybe Wilson HS kids, though, I can never tell ages anymore).



Dressed to the nines in grunge.



I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Especially when it's just too "done" to be real.



If you're gonna go grunge, do it all the way. Don't pair it with suede booties and a pseudomullet. These girls looked like they wanted to project "I don't care," but really did - way too much. And they seriously looked just like the "Heathens" that used to hang in the "smoking lounge" (read: courtyard between the math and "vocational" wings) back in high school.* Teal and black plaid flannel to boot.



I know it's been on the runways in the past few seasons, but this is really one time that a trend shouldn't remotely be recycled. Nothing viable about it in the least.



*a) I know I'm dating myself with a HS that allowed smoking at all, and b) yes, yes, I know I'm being all clique-y and HS-ish by naming a group. But that was the reality that bit back then...

Inspriation Strikes in the Strangest Places

Like in the car on the way to work. Already dressed for the day by at least an hour, BK breakfast inhaled, and Steve Zabin & co on the radio (I'm possibly the only woman who religiously listens to SportsTalk 980 on her drive to work - but they're the best radio, by leaps and bounds, in the Washington market), it hits.

I could be wearing ankle boots, aka the Ubiquitous Bootie, with this outfit. And it might even be cute.

By way of explanation, I hated ankle boots in the 80s and early 90s. And I hate(d) them when they popped back on the scene in the last few seasons. I just didn't see how they were flattering to anyone - especially paired with skirts, as they were shown. The only exception to that ankle boot ban in my book was old-fashioned lace-ups. I have a soft spot for period ensembles that could be worn by the beloved redheaded heroine, Anne of Green Gables (before it went all commercial, of course).

But somehow, yesterday morning, clad in my tried and true black merino cowlneck sweater, grey pinstriped pencil skirt, deep red tights, and (ridiculously) boring black pumps, I got a flash of booties. A little fold over, a little heel...they absolutely would've worked. I scared myself, I nearly jumped.

I stopped to consider - am I just sleep deprived (The Bean has decided middle of the night is a good time to get up again)? And where the heck did that thought come from? I have no idea - booties are not something on my radar.

Or weren't.

So maybe, just maybe, I'll forgo spending $138 on the Carmen (top; although, if I'm gonna channel the 80s, I might as well go whole hog and add in the legwarmer reference, too) or $139 on the Tyler, and just hit the Target clearance shop for Isaac's black patent version for $25.89 + SH. After all, if it's already on the clearance aisle at Target, well, then, it probably won't be around for long.

*Photos courtesy of DC-shoe-havens Carbon & Wild Women Wear Red, and, of course, Target.