I told Mike today that I think my wardrobe is a little schizophrenic. On one hand, I love professional stuff, like twinsets and button-down shirts and, you know, Ann Taylor Loft. On the other hand, I am also a jeans-and-Docs or cargo-pants-and-flip-flops kind of girl. It’s been that way for a long time. In high school, I was the girl who would wear jeans and button-downs one day and a black skirt, black top, black shoes and purple tights the next. The “smart kids” group I hung with had some of both, and it’s like I never quite decided which I was. So now I mix crazy things together. I am the poster child for What Not to Wear.
I have been needing a new pair of black winter shoes. I debated what to do, whether to get a pair with heels or something kind of platformed or just to get something kind of clunky that would look good with pants. In the end, I decided to go with Doc Martens. I am always looking for a good excuse to go with the Doc Martens. In high school, all my cool friends who wore lots of eyeliner and had weird facial piercings wore Docs. You know, the ones that lace up to the knees. They were so punk rock. hehe. I wanted a pair, but couldn’t spend that much on shoes. But now, now that I can justify them by saying, “They have good support, which is what I need for work,” I never miss an opportunity to get Docs. Plus, they look great with cargo pants and jeans as well as being great for work.
Because I am a professional, though, I can’t have the bright yellow stitching. That made them look decidedly less professional. So I defiled them with a black Sharpie. That’s my concession to my professional life. I know the yellow stitches are an important part of the motif. But it didn’t look quite right with my gray pants. Now they look great!
I’m pretty sure my punk rock friends would disown me if they read this.
Now I can wear my Docs with my new Ann Taylor pants and bring both the funk and the class to the library. Just don’t tell Stacy and Clinton, okay?
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17 Comments
You are far from the poster child for What Not to Wear. Now, Splenda, that I can buy into.
Were you a punk rock girl in high school Kari?
I kind of wanted to be punk rock, but was never cool or angry enough. But I did wear some weird stuff. I can’t believe my mom didn’t try to talk me out of it. hehe.
Ol Doc Martin, made you say “awwwwww?”
the black sharpie on the stitching is like defaming the mona lisa.
that is the whole signature of doc martens. the one pair of doc martens i got ended up not fitting very well. i may well get a new pair of low cut ones for the winter. my sketchers are getting a bit ratty. the treads are wearing down. but i like big clunky shoes for the winter. anyway, yeah….
The Mona Lisa? Come on, it’s not that bad.
what’s the weirdest thing you wore? confess.
Tim has a great story about the Defilement of the Doc’s Yellow Stitching…..
When he was in high school, he went to a private school. At this school, there were Preficts, which are essentially like the older students who are chosen to “patrol” the school, for rule breaking, and especially for breaking dress code.
One of the Preficts used to keep a Sharpie handy when he was doing door duty and actually made whoever he saw with Docs color in the yellow stitching, because it didn’t gel with the “all black” shoe rule.
And this dude was a STUDENT!
If I remember the story correctly, Tim used to take a different door if he knew that guy was on dHe therefore avoided the Sharpie-ing of the Docs.
Brian, the “all black with bright purple tights” is weird enough. I’m not telling anything worse than that.
Michaela, that is a great story. hehe. I can’t believe he’d be THAT strict about it. wow.
I’m a heels girl myself, but whatever.
the guy from tim’s story probably is still single and has no friends.
Kari, I went through an attempt at a punk rock phase as well, involving some silver eyeliner, amongst other things.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) my private school’s dress code curtailed most of that!
Ich liebe my Doc Martens.
Hey Scott, your still single and have no… wait.
Actually, Carla, I thought about you and the great shoe search of 2004 when I was writing this, because I don’t tend to wear heels with jeans or pants. Platform/wedge shoes, yes, but not heels. So we ended up in a very different place.
“all black with bright purple tights?†link?
As far as I know, no photos survived. Sorry, Charles. hehe.
Hi Kari,
You sound like me except personally I would have chosen a high-heeled pump or boot to go with my new Ann Taylor Pants. Long pants with a nice high-heel give you a long lean line.