I want to tell y'all a story, right. This story is about how you should Shamelessly Watch People All The Time And Steal Their Style. Yesterday I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus (I see my frieeeeends oh wait no let's not), eating olive bread, and I saw a young woman in the near distance coming towards me. She was excellently dressed, in the tradition of Wellington High Fashion Black, and was wearing what appeared to be a pair of dropped crotch, draped, billowy black pantaloons. But in a good way! "JELUS," I thought, chewing my olive bread. "I BET THOSE ARE FROM ZAMBESI OR SOMETHING." And as she came closer, I shamelessly checked out her outfit, especially these awesome pants. And then I realised! That no! They were not pants at all, but a maxi-skirt, cunningly knotted at her knees to hitch it up into an interestingly draped below-the-knee hobble skirt. The same maxi-skirt that I owned, in fact. "Hmm," I thought. "Hmmm." And then I got up this morning and I cunningly knotted my maxi-skirt, and threw it on over leggings and a t-shirt with a loose cardigan for a casual Friday, and called it good.
So what, then, is the moral of this tale? The moral, dear readers, is that you should (as previously mentioned) Watch People and Steal Their Ideas. I watch people all the time. When I'm sitting on the bus, I keep an eye on what pedestrians are wearing. Sometimes, walking down the street, I will tell somebody that they look fantastic and then keep walking. Sometimes, confession (because I can be a wee bit of a giant bitch) I think "Oh honey no", and then I mentally pick apart what it was that didn't work. You can do this via the internet, of course, using style blogs like The Sartorialist or Hel Looks (awesome) and these are very cool because a helpful team of photographers and editors have already gone through and edited out all the boring people in suits/sweatpants/jeans-and-a-t-shirt, but keeping an eye on people In Your City is useful in a way that the internet kind of can't be, because you're much more likely to pick up, as I did, on somebody wearing a local chainstore item in a Really Fucking Cool way. And that is pretty awesome.
Details (click picture for larger version): Hawkshead moth print t-shirt, Kate Sylvester. Black chiffon maxi-skirt, Glassons. Black leggings, Glassons. Brown peep-toe wedge heels, Overland Shoes. Brown belt, Glassons. Black metal beads, Bling. Black cotton textured scarf, vintage gifted. Pink cardigan, Glassons.
