Rarely Romantic

Liz McKee
Mar 7, 2017
3 min read

I know, this title seems way harsh, Tai. I'm not saying that I'm not a romantic person; I love long walks on the beach and to be wined and dined (or hard cider-ed and burger-ed in my case, but that doesn't sound quite as nice), but that rarely translates to my wardrobe. I love bold colors, patterns, and jewelry and often shy away from pastels, lace, and ruffles. I admire soft pinks, blues, and greens on other people and Easter eggs, but they totally wash me out 99.9% of the time. However, today I found a way to make this trend work for me and I'm pretty excited about the outcome!

I'll start from the bottom up today. My shoes are the most traditionally romantic part of my closet. Why? Because I wore these Converse on my wedding day! I have had a love affair with Converse, even longer than I have known my husband. I still remember my first pair (pink high tops) and completely wearing them out. I knew as soon as I was engaged that I wanted to wear fun footwear on my big day. In fact, all of my bridesmaids did too! I let them pick whatever colors/patterns they wanted, and we all had so much fun with it. I found this macrame/doily-esque material pair on the Converse website when they were having their Labor Day weekend sale. They were even prettier in person and they went perfectly with my dress! So while sneakers aren't what first comes to mind when you think of romance, this particular pair reminds me of my special day with David celebrating a new life of love and happiness together. What's more romantic than that?

Next, my dress...I actually wore this to my bridal shower! I love this dress because it's so easy to wear year round. It looks classic with nude heels and a red lipstick in the spring/summer, and edgy and Victorian in fall/winter when you add black tights and boots and an oversize blazer. H&M always comes in clutch with inexpensive dresses and I tend to go a little nuts when I find them in the clearance section. It was almost like a prelude to my wedding dress in the sense that it was a pretty ivory color and had a lot of little details on it. I got a lot of compliments on it and I only spent $10 on it (which I of course told everyone)!

Last, but not least, I need to share a story about this cute and comfy J.Crew sweater. It was actually found for me by another thrifter at the bins! For those of you who love the thrill of the hunt, you know you can find some excellent stuff at the Goodwill Outlet aka "The Bins". I have found new Dockers khakis for my husband, a romper, high-waisted shorts, etc. and for just pennies! The Goodwill Outlet in Montgomeryville (conveniently located next to the Goodwill store) sells their clothing for about $1.50 per pound, which is just awesome for families and thrift fanatics alike. When I was digging around in the bins, a sweet woman came up to me and told me about a J.Crew sweater that she thought I might like and she hoped someone that could fit into it would take it because it was too nice to leave behind. I thanked her profusely; I love when fellow thrifters are so thoughtful! I was sold as soon as I saw the button detailing on the front and double sold when I saw the elbow pads. For whatever reason, I love me some elbow pads. I had a cardigan from H&M with the same patches that I wore and washed so often that you could have probably read a book through it by the time I was done with it!

I kept the rest of my look kind of cheeky and flirty, with a messy ponytail, a warm neutral lip, a lot of lash, and my pink skull earrings from one of my best friends, Catherine. Overall, I think I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! If you ever feel uncomfortable about trying a new style (i.e. me with pastels), add some old favorites (i.e. Converse/fun jewelry) to make yourself a little more confident about your look.