More about the hair, and other stuff with lots of CAPS and italics

Just in case you're wondering, I do like my new haircut. It makes my eyes look bigger for some reason, and also my hair thinks it has a little natural curl now, which is a bonus. And while Hubby-- as I predicted-- is a little disappointed that my hair is no longer LONG, he likes my hair and my new look just fine.

However, that does not lessen my frustration with uncommunicative hair stylists. I asked that gal specifically if she thought that particular style would work with my hair, and she said "I think so." I even had other pictures of other styles with me, in case she felt that it was a wrong pick for me. I guess I should have pushed the issue harder. I have had so little experience with hair stylists-- I have cut my own hair for most of my adult life-- that I just didn't quite know what to do.

Saturday LovelyDaughter and I combed the thrift stores and had a great time. The first one we went to I hit the jackpot and found about five shirts that fit me and look great and follow my new fashion rules. I felt a little guilty buying FIVE shirts, and a belt, and a scarf, all at once. Under my normal shopping rules I can only buy one or two things at a time. But I had to remind myself that the rules change when you're thrifting. You can buy EVERYTHING you like, because, 1) next time there may be NOTHING, and 2) it costs so little. I mean, really-- it only cost me 16 bucks for all of it.

At the next store I thought my search would be unfruitful, till I found the steal of the day: a beautiful, new-looking, knee-length leather skirt, imported from Italy, for $2.98! I couldn't try it on, because that store didn't have dressing rooms (what are they thinking?), but for that price I thought I could take a chance. And when I got it home I found it fit perfectly. I did a little happy dance all around the living room, showing it off, before LovelyDaughter grabbed it to try on, and I almost didn't get it back....

At the third store, I found nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. See what I mean? You gotta take it when you find it.

Just a note about thrift stores. The first one we went to was wonderful. It felt more like a boutique, with all the clothes arranged by kind, size, AND color; and the clothing was all high-end, brand name stuff. Classy. The people working there were friendly and acted like real sales people. The store was clean and the dressing room was big enough for two people at once (just barely) and was ALL MIRRORS! Very nice.

The second store had all the clothing arranged by type with signs above, like "women's skirts," and it was arranged loosely by size, meaning, generally all of one size were in the same vicinity, but keep looking. Everything was sort of a hodgepodge of good expensive clothes (as in my leather skirt) and cheap clothes. It was very crowded and busy, and, as I said, had NO dressing rooms.

The third store was, um, not so nice. The floors were filthy. The clothes were jam-packed on the racks, making it difficult to look at individual garments. I found a rack of woman's skirts but they were not arranged in any coherent manner. After plowing through one side of a long rack, trying to find something in my size, I gave up. We did find a couple of things to try on, and found that the dressing room--besides having NO mirrors-- was just as dirty, and we didn't know where to put our clothes. It honestly felt like the place had cooties. I was actually grateful that it was raining when we left. Walking through the rain for two blocks to the car felt cleansing.

So, in summary, not all thrift stores are alike. From now on, I'm shopping at thrift store #1, with occasional forays into thrift store #2, and I think I'll stay away from the third one. I'm not that desperate.

On a more positive note, Hubby was so impressed with my new leather skirt that he asked me to dress up in it last night and we went out to eat for my birthday. That was fun-- all duded up in new clothes from head to foot, including necklace and earrings, and a new haircut. I feel well birthday-ed.