Well, summer has officially ended for me as it obviously does every year. The kids don’t start back until Tuesday, but we had two days of inservice training as well as open house this week and…
THE STORY
…My ass is well and truly kicked. I didn’t have time to get this post finished earlier in the week, and now I’m sitting here staring at the blinking cursor with a blank look on my face. Going back to work after three months off would be rough for anyone, but having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome makes it exponentially tougher for me.
I talked about it a little more in depth a few years ago so I won’t bore you with the details again today. For my body to be even close to fully functioning I need at least ten hours of sleep at night and if I didn’t get the ten hours I need a nap during the day. When school is back in session neither of those is an option for me so during the school year I am never at a level where I feel truly good; I just make the best of what I have to work with.
Through years of practice I’ve learned to fake it to a certain extent. I can at least usually look like I’m awake and fully alert even if my brain lacks the ability to think clearly, focus and form a coherent sentence. If you were sitting next to me in a room you wouldn’t necessarily realize that there was anything amiss.
That’s actually where I’m going with this…you never ever truly know what someone else is going through. Even if you know them, if they don’t choose to share it with you, you would never know about the mountains they have to climb. The same applies to social media; you see the pretty pictures that someone posts and it makes it easy to forget that no one’s real life is as pretty as the images that you see. Everyone struggles. Everyone has issues from their pasts. Everyone is battling something…Everyone has their own mountain.
THE OUTFIT
I’m a sucker for some pretty lace and the hem on this lace slip dress is what attracted me to it. I have a shorter plain black slip dress, but last winter when I was looking for a midi/maxi length version I knew this was it as soon as I saw it. I first wore it in January layered under my velvet duster. The duster coupled with black tights and boots underneath made the gorgeous hem less apparent which was a shame because seriously, is the lace not gorgeous?
When I wore it to lunch with my girlfriend the other day, I chose to layer my vintage Harley Davidson tee over top. Since it’s a men’s tee shirt and a front tuck wasn’t an option over a dress, I opted to know the tee in the front to give it some shape. I often take scissors to my tees; I sometimes alter the necklines or the sleeves or crop them if they’re extra long. I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I’m thinking that I might crop this one. Had it been cropped, I would have probably added a belt to give the dress a little more shape since it’s a looser fit.
It’s that time of the year when I have to practice wearing heels again. I spend my entire summer in Birks and sneakers and while I do wear sneakers to work pretty often, most of the time I’m wearing something with a heel. That means that by the time back to school rolls around I’m out of practice…translation, my feet aren’t yet adjusted to the pain. I’ve found that wedges and block heels, especially with at least a bit of a platform in the front are typically more comfortable. I’ve had these leopard wedge sandals for years and they are typically wearable for a day on my feet and I thought they were the perfect partners with my Harley tee.
THE TIP
In my opinion, at least for me since I’m so petite, outfits just look better with at least a bit of heel; sneakers being the exception because, well, they’re sneakers and I love them! I used to wear sky high heels all of the time. However I ended up requiring bunion surgery a few years ago and anything over 3 inches kills me unless there is a platform in the front. Through trial and error, I’ve found I can still wear heels if I keep the following in mind:
- Stick to heels that are no more than 2 1/2 to 3 inches in height unless the shoe has a substantial front platform to level out the additional height.
- A block or chunky heel provides more stability which in turn is more comfortable since your feet don’t have to work as hard to maintain balance.
- If you love the look of a more delicate heel, kitten heels are typically comfortable since by definition they are lower. They give you a boost without the instability of a lot of extra height.
- Like a chunky or block heel, wedges also provide a more solid base. Most of my shoes/sandals with a heel higher than 3 inches are wedges and I’m still able to wear them with minimal foot pain.
- The right shoe insert, either a full or ball of foot insert, can help to minimize foot pain. Many of my shoes have cushy inserts inside them.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas…
Dress: Nasty Gal (Similar); Tee: Vintage (Similar); Sandals: Similar
