Garment District, and heat exhaustion

Had a fun time combing through the stuff at the Garment District on Wednesday with contradictacat and ninja_report. I've had the Groupon from there for several months now, and I noticed it was about to expire next month, so I figured I should get some use out of it. My favorite thing I picked up was an adorable suit skirt with a neat cross-hatching pattern with patches of houndstooth and big black buttons. It's dressy enough to look professional but cute enough for regular wear. I also got a replacement pair of black thigh-highs, and a fun red top with flutter sleeves and a low enough neckline to give even me some cleavage. Heh, that's pretty damn low. The only problem was it so was hot in the store that trying stuff on got to be more and more of a pain. Still, I'm very grateful to contradictacat for suggesting it, since I had a very fun time and am pleased with the pieces I found. And, because of the Groupon certificate, they were already paid for months ago! Yay!

Yesterday was a rough day physically. Normally I can take the heat pretty well, but yesterday it was just too much for me. I spent most of it headachey, naseous, and drifting in and out of naps that were not at all restful. To top it all off, my left arm started bothering me. I think I just hurt it during my workout, and I'm not sure whether to call the sensation soreness or numbness or what, but it's quite unpleasant, though better today than it was yesterday. I'll have to be careful with it. I think the worst part of it all is that for some reason only God knows, I rarely if ever feel thirsty and so often go ridiculously long before it occurs to me to drink something. I think I dehydrated myself pretty badly yesterday because of this. That's incredibly weird, I know, but that's how I am. I think I need to add making sure I drink a full bottle of water to my daily self-care routine, but history has shown that I'm not going to do it on my own.

Slutty clothes + slutty clothes = not-slutty outfit!

Okay, I just did something really cool-- at least, I think so. I was digging through my closet, trying to get my seasonally-appropriate stuff into the places of easiest access. In the course of digging I pulled out my "dress hanger," the large sturdy fancy hanger on which I hang my very few nice dresses. It holds the sparkly blue dress that I am grateful to Steph and Charlotte for convincing me to buy, the flame-orange dress that Frances wore in To Think of Nothing, and my black cocktail dress.

Just for fun I put on the cocktail dress just to admire how good it looks on me. What I like about it is that the front is simple and fairly modest, with a square neckline and a hem that ends a handsbreadth above my knees, but it is backless to my tailbone, with just two thin strings stretching across that bare expanse. I have always found backless styles to be the epitome of sexiness, and that works for me, since I have, if you'll excuse my saying, a very sexy back. I started thinking to myself what a shame it was that I don't often get a chance to wear it.

Then something occurred to me. On a whim, I dug out my new red blouse with the very low neckline that I just got at the Garment District and pulled it on over the dress. My reflection pleased me to no end. Each piece is lovely, in my opinion, on its own. But how many occasions do I have to wear a cocktail dress or a plunging neckline? But together, the blouse and the dress made each other more appropriate for regular wear. The blouse covered the open back of the dress, and the dress filled in the empty neckline of the blouse. And low and behold, they look very cute together! I am so pleased with myself for discovering this. Who would have imagined that two slutty articles of clothing when worn together make for a non-slutty outfit! I may prefer the look of a little more skin, but when that's not possible, now I have an adorable dressy option that isn't quite so daring! Yay!