One Year Later

Yesterday was April 7, and it was the one-year anniversary of my achieving my goal weight. It's probably unbearably narcissistic of me to even mention it, so please forgive me, but I'm rather proud of myself. I lost 30 pounds and I have kept them off for a year now. I bounce up & down a few pounds depending on how much wine I've drunk lately and where in my menstrual cycle I am (Who knew I retained that much water??? With thirty extra pounds I didn't notice it so much!), but basically I am where I triumphantly arrived a year ago.

So. How to celebrate? Seems silly to celebrate a weight loss with the traditional big meal and bottle of wine -- kinda counter-productive, and besides -- this Sunday is Easter & I plan on eating a trough of food then.

I took myself out for a nice, long, leisurely, sunshine-y run and that was good. And treated myself to some sushi for lunch, which is the yummiest bang for my caloric buck I know of. (Mmmmmmm, unaaaaaaagi...) Seems pretty tame, I guess, but full disclosure: last week was pretty stressful and that combined with knowing my anniversary was coming up gave me the perfect excuse for a little pre-celebrating, the Style Spy way -- by retailing. And I am not apologizing, 'cause, dudes -- I scored.

First score:


Nummy red & tan silk YSL pencil skirt with slightly high-ish waist & belt loops. It's pretty fantastic. It's going to be divine with my nude Atwood sandals. I could cop out & go the easy route with a white blouse, but I'm thinking I like the idea of matching this up with a navy top. (Which I don't, to my surprise, have. Darn. More shopping.)

I should say, I don't have a solid navy top, but I do have this




little Marni wonder that I love like a boyfriend. This blouse was worth Every. Single. Dime. I paid for it, many times over. I wear this and wear this and wear this. More of this ilk is definitely at the top of my Want List.

I know that combination is going to give some people indigestion, but I am extremely intrigued by it and can't wait to try it on. I can't do that right now (and take a picture to show you) because A) the top is at the cleaner (did I mention I wear it a lot?) and B) the skirt is at the tailor's. They didn't have it in my size, they only had it one size up. However, after multiple discounts, said lovely garment that was originally priced at about 900 smackers rang up at... $47.41. Including tax. So, yeah, I'm okay with dropping a few bucks to have it taken in a bit.

Score numéro deux:



Most excellent Graeme Black nubby cotton pencil skirt. Not a great picture, sorry, but we've talked about my photographic skills (or lack thereof) and I'm trying to make this blog interesting to look at as well as read! Here it is with better lighting:



Does nice things for mon derrière, n'est-çe pas? Note the adorable double vent in the back -- I've always loved the way that looks and it gives such a nice flip when you walk. This fabric is really great, sort of a canvas-y heavy textured cotton and that black stripe has a wonderful hand-painted effect to it, imperfect and sort of Marni-esque.


Just swell. My only complaint is a usual one -- no lining. The fabric is pretty heavy, but it is white. And this silly thing retailed for a cool thousand bucks originally, so to my way of thinking they could have spent $7 of that on a yard and a half of polyester to line the thing. But I'm not going to whinge too much -- it settled out at $64.73, post-discounts & markdowns, and for 65 bucks I can wear a slip.

So there you have it. Retail therapy and rich reward, all for just over 100 bucks. Added to that was one more bonus -- a reminder not to take the size thing too seriously. When I was in that dressing room on Sunday, there were clothes that ran from size 2 to size 6, size 36 to size 40. There were 2s that were too big and 6s that were too snug. The YSL skirt? A 40, and needs to be taken in. The Graeme Black? Also a 40, and absolutely perfect. That isn't about me or that extra glass of wine or piece of chocolate cake, that's just the Randomness of the Fashion Universe, about which I can do absolutely nothing. I am more than my number, I have finally come to know.

Although I will say that when I rule the world, there will be universally consistent sizing. Honestly, I could probably get elected to the Presidency just by running on that platform, huh? "Vote for Style Spy, and all your pants will be the same size!" Record numbers of women voters would sweep me into office in a landslide.

Hmmmm... That might be my next career move. Who's with me?


Photos: Style Spy