Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Leopard Adult

Double Leopard Debut--Tuesday, 4/5/16

Lizzy dances that delicate line of cute but this side of twee, and she has a boutique that sells some die-for scarves.  This pastel leopard one is perfect for spring.

From whatlizzyloves.com

Unfortunately my light blue pullover sweater is not so perfect for the "spring" that happens in Coldville prior to May because it has 3/4 length sleeves that aren't quite warm enough.  Even worse, despite being the same size as the light pink one, it is smaller (grrr, inconsistent sizing caused by manufacturers cutting too many pieces of fabric at once) and that means a hint too small.  So I needed to add another layer to this outfit, which was actually a lot harder than I felt it should have been.  After trying various blazers, I took a chance on a lightweight cocoon cardigan made from t-shirt knit material.  Wearing a pullover sweater with a cardigan seems really odd but it worked out OK in this case.


Light blue lace front pullover sweater (Kohls), $5.33/wear+
Dark grey wide leg trousers (thrifted, Lane Bryant), $0.63/wear
Grey/black striped cocoon cardigan (Kohls), $2.21/wear
Grey leopard scarf (Kohls), $1.50/wear
Grey leopard flats by Fergilicious, $0.74/wear

Outfit total: $10.41/wear

But I did do something that if not unprecedented for me is at the very least exceedingly rare--doubled up on leopard in the scarf and (subtle) ballet flats.  Not something I'm going to make a habit of or anything but I was feeling a bit whimsical.


I haven't worn this sweater very much--I have other blue sweaters that I like and that fit better than this one ever did--so it's kind of sad to purge it from my wardrobe.  But after the irritation of making it work in this outfit, it's time for it to go.

It does amuse me somewhat to consider that I had purchased these two sweaters in "serenity" (light blue) and "rose quartz" (light pink) in March 2014, well before those colors were chosen as the colors of the year for 2016.  Did Pantone's choice follow me back in time to influence the purchase?  It almost makes more sense than me deciding to purchase these two sweaters on my own.

In other news...I enjoyed this article from The Atlantic on when adolescent ends and adulthood begins.  Have you become an adult yet?  When did this happened?  Was there a particular event that ushered in your adulthood or did it sneak up on you gradually and you realized at some point that it had happened?

8 comments:

Jen M. said...

I bought a couple shirts at thredup recently. One was light blue and the other was pink. Not my typical colors but it cracked me up that they were the Pantone colors! I have been wearing mostly black, charcoal, and navy blue though.

Sally said...

Hah, no one can escape! But those colors do look good with dark neutrals :)

Debbie said...

I felt I became an adult when I finally got my first full-time "permanent" job. So, the financial independence part of the big three.

But I also sort of feel like the real definition is having a dependent--so when you have kids or have to take care of your siblings because your parents are incompetent or worse. I only did that at summer camp (I was in charge of a bunch of kids). I actually ate vegetables because I had to be an example. (Though I did have a funniest-face contest for drinking grapefruit juice and we did have beet races across an inclined plate. I feel lucky that I get to be silly even as an adult.)

And I had hints of it with my sister, who is ten years younger than me. And I feel so lucky that I could choose not to have kids. Nevertheless, not having kids still puts me at the kiddie table at Thanksgiving, and that's the best table, so it's okay. (Admittedly, I haven't been home for Thanksgiving in a long time, but I did sit at the kiddie table in my thirties.)

Of course really there have been many stages. Other relevant events for me were talking my brother out of running away from home and teaching him to read (when I was six and he was four), moving away from home to college, graduating from college, and buying a house.

And also, when you're an adult, you get to do whatever you want. So I sort of feel like an adult when I have chocolate chips for dinner. And when I buy things that I want but don't need (I remember buying my own fingernail clippers in college which meant giving myself the luxury of always knowing where they were, unlike at my parents' house.)

Though it turns out we were supposed to have been brainwashed by the time we could do whatever we wanted, and should have realized things like that trap doors and bat poles are impractical, that living in castles is expensive, and that chocolate chips for dinner (on a regular basis) are not healthy. Eh, mostly I was.

Sally said...

I agree that having a dependent in a huge one, and I believe this more strongly since meeting my baby nephew. I think it's basically obnoxious when people with kids tell everyone else that they aren't really grown up until they have one, but I'm not sure they're wrong. Or, as you say, once you start taking care of older parents, etc. I don't think having pet rabbits quite got the job done.

Jen M. said...

I think I felt like an adult prior to having a baby. It may have coincided with buying our first house (and gut-renovating it), or starting to mentor people at work... we also had cats around this same time, so hard to say what factored when. Something does still definitely change once you're pregnant too, but in all though I guess it snuck up on me :)

Sally said...

Jen, yep, buying a house is another milestone. You've definitely been building toward adulthood for a long time! :) Some days I think I'm still working on it.

Tam said...

The adult thing is very, very confusing. I feel very torn between feeling like a kid and feeling like a middle-aged person. I think I may have skipped 'normal' adulthood completely. I don't even know the words to talk about this.

Sally said...

I know, right?? I'm all over the place with this one. I do have some of the basic markers--my actual age, a grown-up job, marriage, a middle-aged sense that the world is different from what I'm used to--but a lot of the time, "adulthood" for me seems like...I don't know, I tell my own ass when to stop playing a computer game and go to bed, and most of the time, it's not terribly late when I do so?