Neon, Animal Print, and Other Fads I Sometimes Like But Never Want to Eat

As promised, adventures in trying on a leopard print skirt. It really wasn’t an adventure, don’t get your hopes up. In fact, I will be straight with you, it isn’t even a very interesting story.

But, duh duh duh... Here it is.

I didn’t take a picture of myself trying this one on. I had a witness with me ready and willing to critique the fit on the spot, so I didn’t need a picture. However, I can assure you that my bottom looked much better this time. And yet, things didn’t go as planned.

We went into Forever 21 after dinner, at Thaiphoon, for our last date night. The food was pretty good (the food at Thaiphoon, I don’t believe they have food at Forever 21 and I if they did I imagine it wouldn’t be very appetizing. They are currently favoring all things neon. Neon clothing can be hard enough to stomach. Neon food would be really hard to take) and the experience was ordinary. I had been to this particular restaurant before and enjoyed it; I had the scallops. It has been a while since my original visit, over a year, and things have changed. First, no more scallops. Second, the ambiance was a little more about volume and a little less about food. It felt a little like a Vegas buffet (minus the actual buffet) mixed with a Chili's. The space is huge and seemed designed for guests to just eat and leave; like slow motion fast food. This may not be a bad thing for some, and I will admit it isn’t always a bad thing for me. Some place that will move you in and out is ideal for lunch when you are trying to hurry back to work. But, for our Friday night date I usually want more. Date night is about more than just about getting food into my hungry tummy. When on a date we eat, or try to eat, as part of an experience. Don’t you? But, that certainly didn’t happen this time. The food is good enough if you just want to eat something and then be on your way; we didn’t.

Anyway, I digress. I dread going into Forever 21. It is loud, bright, packed, and smells of adolescents and cheap clothes. I don’t love it. But, if you take a deep breath and give it a shot you might find some good, cheap, faddy things to wear. Yes, you may be thinking something about how you hate fads and never get caught up in them. Sure, sure, we are all incredibly original and never do anything that anyone else is doing. That being said, sometimes I kinda dig a fad. Fad is not a bad word, it is fine to be momentarily into something. It is fine to copy something that you thought looked cool on someone else. You shouldn’t, in my opinion, be entirely made up of fabs. You should, in my opinion, have elements of your own style always; mix and match things in a way that makes you feel like you. Plus, I also think you should only spend good money on things that are classic, timeless, and wonderful. Therefore, you should only spend an insignificant amount of money to participating in  a fad/fads. Words to fad by, according to me.

Enter Forever 21. Sure their stuff is pretty cheaply made but that is ok because it is actually cheap. How long does some trendy little number really need to last? Not long. When we went in, we both felt overwhelmed by the bright colored mannequins and all of the Forever21-ness, he more than me. I found said leopard print skirt. Oh, you forget about the skirt, huh? Too many tangents you say? I grabbed a few other choice items and head to the dressing room. He remained outside looking around with a mix of confusion and a touch of terror. I walked out in the skirt.

Yes, I’m really making a story about trying on a leopard print skirt this extensive, with this much unnecessary detail. That's just how I roll. I looked for him and our eyes meet across the confusion; mine full of hope and desperation, his full of fear. He silently shook his head at me. I said something like but... His look shifted to concern as he shook his head again. I said “maybe in a tacky/cool way?” He shook his head again. He moved closer to me and kinda quietly explained that the fabric texture was quite off putting. The skirt was fuzz, its texture giving the illusion that I was actually wearing a cat.

I closed the door to the dressing room and changed back into my real clothes. I felt surprisingly discouraged, still wishing I could find the perfect almost wild item. As we walked, he explained that this hadn’t been just some difference in taste or style. He said that skirt was just way too tacky and not in a good quirky way, in a cheap way.

There it is, the catch with Forever 21. That store has some good finds that are unfortunately mixed with some, well, other finds. In my zeal I had stumbled on the latter. When you have someone you  trust, someone that has a similar style to you, and always encourages you to be yourself. When that someone says absolutely no to something you put on in a dressing room, you trust them, put the skirt down, and immediately leave the store. Too much desperation to find the right thing can cause one (me being the one in this case) to lose all sanity and sense of typical style. Phew, close call. Glad he was there and that he was not hypnotized by the bright colors and loud music; glad he managed to still speak reason to my desperate, wannabe wild heart. Because, truth be told, I am just not a fuzzy leopard print kind of a girl.

But perhaps a non fuzzy animal print...