You can imagine the pile of papers I’ve got to work with.  I’ll admit it, I’m a follower of trends. I’ve got a Pinterest board called “Dress Me Up” and one called “Saw it. Bought it.”, which overlap quite a bit.  Clothes, shoes, outfits that I’d like to wear (or maybe it’s the body shape I’d rather have) make it to these boards.  On a recent review, there’s quite a bit of stripes going on, but as the old adage goes. . .

I see stuff that I like either in magazines or on other people.  Rather than thinking about whether or not a) I need it, b) really and truly like it or c) whether or not it’s a good match for me, I end up with stuff that I don’t really wear.   Trying to put an end to that, I’ve decided to dress or rather,  make outfits selections more purposefully rather than with a “This is clean” mentality.  And while I’m not a fan of shopping (contrary to what my back account says), I’m a sucker for things that I see in my price range and that I think will disappear if I don’t grab them.  Case in point, this Peter Pan Collar from J.Crew.  

I looked at it online after viewing it in one of my mags back in August.  The word on the street was that Peter Pan collars were making a comeback for the fall.  This particular shirt was already back ordered until November.  In my pea brain that meant Panic at the Disco! Everyone is buying this shirt! I must have it, too! 

I must have been a lemming in my past life. 

Now, I know that I am shaped like a 34 year old Black woman, not like the model pictured above.  BUT, I figured that the shirt would be flattering.  I mean, I’ve got a cute shape every now and again.  I’ve got jeans like the model has on.  I could make this work.  So, I forked over my debit card and waited for November.  The shirt came as promised I planned to wear it for Thanksgiving dinner.  I gave myself a blow out, put on a little stick-lip (that’s lipstick to the rest of y’all) and away I went.

Anyway, I liked how it looked. It was comfy and every time I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, I found myself smiling.  Of course, the vanity in the bathroom was high enough to cover the lower half of the shirt and my body, so I never got a really good look at what was going on. Ignorance is bliss, right? 

Fast forward to a few Sundays ago.  Trying to get ready for church, trying to wear something I haven’t worn in a while (remind me to tell you about the clothing rotation project), and my hand stopped on the shirt.  I figured I could wear it with a black pencil skirt, black tights and black pumps.  Yeah, it wasn’t doing me any favors.  So, I tried the shirt with a herringbone print skirt, black tights, and pumps.  Nope. Negative.  Then I held up a pair of oxblood pants to my waist, turned to the hubs and asked, “Does this go?” and he gave me a a very confident thumbs up. 

I slipped on the pants with a pair of nude heels, turned to the hubs, who then said, “Actually. . .that really doesn’t work.”

I knew it!  And here I am with this shirt that only looks good from the waist up.  What am I supposed to  do with that? Walk around with a redact bar across my waist? Back to the drawing board.  SN: as for church that day, I settled on the oxblood pants, a cream colored long sleeve shirt with a boatneck, and a grey cocoon shrug.  Nice. 

So, I’m determined not to give in to this shirt.  I’m going to do one of three things. 

1. Take the shirt to J.Crew and say, “Help me with this.”

2. Fold it up and save it for one of the girls to grow into (hello, grow with me project for Vivi!).

3. Keep trying clothes in the closet to see if I can figure something out. 

Today, I went with option three.  I flipped through my other pages of fashion inspiration and wouldn’t you know it? I had another page featuring a Peter Pan collared shirt, this time worn by a well known actress.  

I have all of those pieces she’s wearing.  I put on the skinny jeans, some tall brown boots with a brown belt. I grabbed my black cardigan per  Victoria Beckham’s Wardobe Essentials as reported by Glamour magazine.  She must have gotten that from my good friend and constant cardi wearer, Karen Sue.  As for the scarf, I skipped it.

Clearly by the look on my face in the first picture, I’m not feeling this.  So, I add the cardigan.  Better, but still not making me happy.  Maybe I need the scarf after all.

Here’s a sample of the feedback I received from my pals (in no particular order):

from lifeofkeesh: Wear this shirt with a bright colored blazer (maybe a jewel tone) and add a skater skirt. You’ll be new old school.

from annteighm: If the shirt were red, I’d liken you to Aileen Quinn. . . “The-e-e-e-e sun’ll come out, TOmorrow! Betcha bottom dollar that too-more-owww. . .they’ll be sun- n- n-n ! For real, though, I think it looks good.

from franklinfitzgerald: Drop the cardigan. You can go with a nice skirt and run some dressier boots to set it off.  Possibly a wide high waisted belt to set off the dressy boots.

from kmcam34: I like the shirt. I was going to ask you where you got it.  I think some different shoes with the cardigan or without. 

from jessgarbi: I love it! Try with round flat shoes.

from itsonlyanatural: I like it.

from kisforkatrina: I love Peter Pan collars.

Love, love, love it!  I think it can be saved.  Stay tuned. . .