Polka Power!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 

I'm in luck -- "Polka Power" had not yet been taken by one of the many women who had submitted a picture of themselves wearing polka dots to Everybody, Everywear. At least it hadn't been taken as of the time I started writing this post but by the time I had finished posting, it had. Oh well, great minds think alike.

Now that I've jumped on the fashion blog train, I've been wanting to feel like I was a part of the blogging community. Everybody, Everywhere gives me that sense of belonging to the fashion blog-o-sphere. I had a blast wearing my polka dots, knowing that I was a part of something bigger, and I couldn't wait to see who had submitted their pictures to the Web site and to see how women everywhere were wearing their dots.

I have always belonged to many different groups and been involved in many different activities, whether it was at school, work, or play. But being a part of a group does not always translate into feeling like you belonged. And I often felt as though I was on the outside looking in or as if I didn't quite belong.

I'm not sure why that is exactly. Maybe it's because I'm not a born and bred American. Although my mom is American and even though I have lived in the USA since I was 4, my home life when I was a kid was very different from my friend's lives. None of my friends, for example, had to register at the post office every January* because they were aliens -- boy, talk about feeling different! And then I had this g*d awful name that nobody could pronounce and this g*d awful curly red hair that made me stick out like a sore thumb when all I wanted to do was look and be like everybody else. 

*Does anybody remember the TV commercials that reminded aliens that they needed to register?

Now that I'm older (and, in this case, wiser), I love my name -- I love that it is so different from everybody else's. It says a little something about who I am and where I came from. And now that my red hair is turning white -- I am going through a HUGE identity crisis. Who would have thunk it? 

camisole -- 21 (Forever 21)

sweater -- delia*s

skirt -- Express World Brand (thrifted)

tights -- xHilaration (Target)

shoes -- Dansko (outlet)

I was never really that much into polka dots, so I didn't have many things, if any, with dots. I kept my eyes open when I was thrifting though, and boy did I ever luck out with this skirt! I was a little paranoid about it being too short (AKA too young) for me, so I pulled it way down so it was resting on my hips instead of my waist.

My shoes may not look as if they went with this outfit, but since they had polka dots on them, how could I not wear them?

I also thought that my necklaces (I'm actually wearing two different ones) looked a bit like polka dots. The beads of the one necklace, found while thrifting, is made from rolled paper! I still can't get over how people can purge some of these things that they have so painstakingly made?! 

The beads on the other are actually red and black seeds called chocos cariados (yinyan). This necklace was a gift from a Colombian friend. 

My pin is a vintage piece of pewter jewelry that was given away as a promotional item in the 1970s with the purchase of Charles on the Ritz products (I found it when thrifting). It has a black enamel abstract of a woman's face, so I thought it was perfect to wear in honor of International Women's Day, which is also today. 

Can you tell that I had fun with this challenge? 

I have to thank Liz of 26 and Counting and Linda of The Auspicious Life, the curators of Everybody, Everywear, for providing this platform for women in the blog-o-sphere to share their own unique style and get to know each other.