My first clue should have been the Sevens.
On my first day at the new gig, I noticed that almost every other woman in the office was wearing a pair of Sevens. Or Citizens. Or Paper. Or Rock. Or Chip. Or Paige. Or whatever. There was a lot of premium denim stalking around the floor.
I didn't think much of it at the time, except to have the standard intimidation flare-up that has been ground in since childhood, when the wealthy kids all wore Guess? and I wore pre-Mizrahi Target and was unmercifully harassed for being a huge nerd. (The sad childhood rears its ugly head again, but hey! It'll pay off in the end!)
There was also a five-minute window where I regretted being too skinny for my pair of rescued-from-Buffalo-Exchange-five-minutes-after-Christmas-and-they're-probably-knock-offs Sevens, because I am a freak. But the moment passed, I was thrown into training and the issue subsided.
Until I got paid.
Holy mother of Prime.
And yeah, I assumed the first check was a glitch to compensate for working three weeks before getting paid, but then they paid me again, and suddenly that "poor in finances but rich in spirit" is starting to not hang as well, and it occurs to me that I should elevate my sartorial game accordingly. Dress for the job you want, and all that.
But when I am afforded an opportunity to run amok in Nordstroms, do I? Heck, no. That would mean letting go of some of this newfound cash (which would make most middle class types weep, but shut up, it's big to me) and my mother raised me to never touch capital if I could help it, and yeah, while this is good advice for the uberwealthy, it's probably not applicable here, and I still think shopping at the Gap is decadent.
So I'm taking baby steps. And baby steps involve ordering a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction slingbacks off the Nordstroms website (marked down 50%). We're building a kickass business casual wardrobe from the heels up, and if that wardrobe includes outrageously overpriced jeans, well, I'm sure I'll have the appropriate panic attack upon purchase.
But, ah, I think I'm going to maybe stick that money into savings instead, because I'm still a big honkin' sensible nerd at heart.
On my first day at the new gig, I noticed that almost every other woman in the office was wearing a pair of Sevens. Or Citizens. Or Paper. Or Rock. Or Chip. Or Paige. Or whatever. There was a lot of premium denim stalking around the floor.
I didn't think much of it at the time, except to have the standard intimidation flare-up that has been ground in since childhood, when the wealthy kids all wore Guess? and I wore pre-Mizrahi Target and was unmercifully harassed for being a huge nerd. (The sad childhood rears its ugly head again, but hey! It'll pay off in the end!)
There was also a five-minute window where I regretted being too skinny for my pair of rescued-from-Buffalo-Exchange-five-minutes-after-Christmas-and-they're-probably-knock-offs Sevens, because I am a freak. But the moment passed, I was thrown into training and the issue subsided.
Until I got paid.
Holy mother of Prime.
And yeah, I assumed the first check was a glitch to compensate for working three weeks before getting paid, but then they paid me again, and suddenly that "poor in finances but rich in spirit" is starting to not hang as well, and it occurs to me that I should elevate my sartorial game accordingly. Dress for the job you want, and all that.
But when I am afforded an opportunity to run amok in Nordstroms, do I? Heck, no. That would mean letting go of some of this newfound cash (which would make most middle class types weep, but shut up, it's big to me) and my mother raised me to never touch capital if I could help it, and yeah, while this is good advice for the uberwealthy, it's probably not applicable here, and I still think shopping at the Gap is decadent.
So I'm taking baby steps. And baby steps involve ordering a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction slingbacks off the Nordstroms website (marked down 50%). We're building a kickass business casual wardrobe from the heels up, and if that wardrobe includes outrageously overpriced jeans, well, I'm sure I'll have the appropriate panic attack upon purchase.
But, ah, I think I'm going to maybe stick that money into savings instead, because I'm still a big honkin' sensible nerd at heart.
Labels: nerdom, wardrobe malfunctions, workin' stiff
3 Comments:
I am glad you are liking the new gig. I think your mom is right, save the capital and just think of a new house in a location that you actually like.
Listen, I'm like you, I grew up on hand-me-downs from some girl whose name I never knew that my parents referred to as "the Doctor's Daughter" and I was lucky if we made it to K-Mart. So - sensible usually reigns supreme when it comes to buying clothes. But last year, at the urging of a friend, I bought my one and only pair of expensive, premium denim jeans. I don't know how they do it, but these things are so lovely and soft, and I swear they're like an invisibility cloak of two sizes worth of my butt. I'm a convert.
nice find on the ken cole markdown!
that's the way to do it and still look cute!
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