clothes, clothes, clothes

I've never been what you'd call a shopaholic, mostly because I've never had a whole lot of money, and it's shown in my clothes. They come in every colour, so long as it's black, and my hems have often been held up my safety pins. But I'm in my mid-20s now, and have a job, and it's definitely time to smarten up a bit.

Since coming to Ireland, I've been buying my clothes in Penneys and in the great charity shops and flea markets all over the city.

But I've just had a nice surprise. Despite the fact that I'm working in a restaurant and eating loads, I've actually got quite a bit thinner, I guess because I'm running around all the time instead of sitting over a book or a computer. So, I've had to go buy some new clothes. Well, truth be told, I didn't HAVE to buy them, but with a couple of hundred Euros in my bank account for a change, I thought, what the heck.

There are some great clothes shops in the city centre. It's hard to put a finger on Dublin style and define it exactly, but it's definitely there. People don't dress the same as they do in other places. It's very much a street look, with lots of elements thrown together -- and here you can see that I'm not really used to talking about clothes and don't have the vocabulary for it! Anyway, I've been lurking around this one particular shop, Retro, ever since I got here, and for the first time I've actually been able to buy something there. What I needed were some casual pants and tops to wear to work and stuff, but what I actually BOUGHT was a sort of rockabilly dress with a fitted top and a big skirt. Who the heck knows where I'm going to wear it. Of course, with a dress like that you've gotta have the right shoes, so that's my next challenge. Then I'll have to find a man to go out with when I've got it on 'cause, again, a dress like that calls for a bit of an occasion.

Along a totally different line, I have a yearning for a coat from the Blarney Woolen Mills shop. Not sure where they fit on the cool-o-meter, but I like them anyway. Winter's not up for a while yet, so I guess there's time to save...

Oh, and an old friend of mine (we grew up together) is coming over soon. Totally psyched about that, and hoping she'll be here in September or Autumn when there's so much on!