My Not-So-Pretty Day In Pink

If I were to write a cheesy memoir of this day, this would be the paperback cover.

After my last In the Lab post, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Most (not all!) of my rule breaking thus far has gone well! I've felt closer to myself in all of my experiment outfits, and I've spent a lot of time patting myself on the back. However, I took a long hard look at my past photos, and thought, 'Well, aren't these just safe.' So, then and there, I decided it was time to kick this experiment into high gear! Or, at least a higher gear.

So, here it is, my first attempt at higher gear... and brace yourselves, it was rough.

Let's get down to business:

THE EVENT: An out-of-the-house, seeing people type of work day.

THE BROKEN RULE(S):

Black is always best.
Never wear anything too girlish.

THE OUTFIT: The outfit spawned from a pink, floral smock dress I bought from Modcloth. As I struggled to put it on, (the attached slip is a real doozy) I thought, 'Today is the day! Kicking it into high gear!' With that attitude, I pulled on navy tights (instead of black) and a shrunken denim jacket. I topped it all off with this striped scarf, because it was literally the only scarf that was even close to matching, and it is COLD in Seattle. I pulled those navy booties back out of the closet, and was ready to head out into the world.

I hated this outfit so much I couldn't even get myself to take a decent picture in it.

THE EXPERIENCE: I was nervous heading out in this outfit. At the time, I thought, 'This must be what high gear feels like!'. I was so very, very wrong. I hated wearing this outfit every second I was in it. It started when I was at the grocery store, picking up supplies for a work event. As I left, the cashier gave me a once-over (gross) and then raised his eyebrows like, "really?" I shook it off, reminded myself that it was HIGH GEAR DAY, and headed toward work.

The photographic evidence of the sun shining on my black outfit.

I arrived, parked, realized how cold I was in the outfit, and went and bought an overpriced chai from the Starbucks Roastery across the street. It was around here that I really started hating this outfit. The scarf was making my neck itchy, I was freezing, and I kept worrying that my butt was out due to the smockiness of the dress. Also, it was SO MUCH PINK and no black in sight. What if people thought I really liked that much pink!? I was not loving it.

So, I left the Starbucks and went and retrieved the heavy bag of groceries from my car, and as I did it began to pour. It was as if the heavens had seen my outfit, thought, 'GIRL, PLEASE,' and really just let me have it. So, there I was, drenched, with poofy rain hair, an itchy neck, wearing a lot of pink and attempting to carry both my own belongings and a disintegrating, very heavy, paper bag of groceries. I realized then, 'this is not what high gear feels like.'

As soon as I got home, I pulled off the pink outfit, threw it across the room (towards the hamper, I'm not a total disaster) and draped myself back in black. And as I did, the clouds parted and the sun came out for the first time that day.

THE CONCLUSION: In my frenzy to go big or go home, I forgot an important part of the experiment. I'm not just breaking rules, I'm also wearing what I like. This pink monstrosity (Christian says it wasn't that bad, so perhaps I'm being dramatic...) was not me, at all, in any direction. So, next time will be high gear, round two: breaking rules and liking it! And no pink.

If you're upset that I'm mixing my Molly Ringwald movie references, here's a little Duckie to make you feel better:

Onwards and upwards, friends!

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