I’ve been wearing this dress a lot this month, and one day I got the idea to try it as a “skirt”. Mostly, I was just looking for an excuse to wear this pretty jeweled belt. Something this sparkly is kind of de trop for 90% of my current daily activities, but paired with a chambray shirt it’s acceptable for a brunch date. Maybe? I kept other accessories to a minimum, so let’s go with yes.

My main concern, whenever I try one of these styling “tricks”, is whether or not I’m going to be comfortable, or spend the entire time adjusting various bits and bobs. Good news: I didn’t have to do that this time. My shirt stayed put, tucked (sort of) into the belt, which also stayed put. I attribute that success to the fact that the belt is wide and made from a grippy, elastic material. Or, you know, magic.

Successful deployment of style trickery, hooray!

You’ve seen this dress before (here and here), but it’s cute so I hope y’all can handle seeing it again in all of its wrinkled glory. I know. I know. I swear it doesn’t look like that when I put it on; some black magic happens in the thirty minutes it takes me to get all my ish together and out of the door, and bam. Wrinkles. I am appropriately ashamed.

But, really, I want to talk about the sandals.

I have been looking for mustard yellow sandals all summer, and I am drawn to the inexorable conclusion that no such things exist in the wild. Good luck if you’re also looking for a pair. You might as well take up unicorn spotting – you’ll have more success doing that, I’m sure.

So, I grudgingly settled for this neon-y, citron yellow pair from Old Navy. They look really cute, and they’re not too uncomfortable. Citron yellow is … ok, fine, a lovely colour. (But it’s no mustard yellow, humph.) But, holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, are these shoes ever prone to getting dirty! I wear them for a couple of hours, and I look like I’ve been tilling muddy fields with my feet. Which, as we all know, is so not my scene. On the bright side, the faux suede seems responsive to a bit of soap and a wet cloth. On the not-so-bright side, I ain’t really got time for that, so these shoes are now officially in PITA territory. Pity, because they are cute.

Sigh.

How about we look at my necklace? And my really, really awkward smile?

I think I better stick with my usual derp face in the future.