Going the Hard Yards

Don't you just love those random garments you have which seem to be indestructible? The ones that you buy without any long term hopes for, but then turn out to become a well depended on item in your wardrobe? They hold their shape and hold their colour and you just start taking it for granted that they will always be there. They do also tend to be the items with the highly flammable warnings, I will concede that.

I have a few garments like that, and this little black vest is one of them. Bought on a trip to the mainland while I was living on a little island in Japan in 2003, it was an impulse buy to wear out to karaoke that night. The sleeves are cut low to the waist, the neckline is low, and it is nice and loose to a firmer waist. These points combined make it the perfect extra layer to throw over loose and billowy tops without it altering their shape, or alternatively to hide the shape of a skivvy that's just a little too tight around the ole love handles.

I totally hate it when garments loose their shape. Mainly because unless there is a clearly visible flaw (stain/tear/lost altogether) I will keep trying to wear it in vain and make it work. And clothes that have lost their shape are yukko. But I keep convincing myself I can wear it anyway. And then I look yukko. Maybe with my new sewing skills I will be able to refashion these lost causes into a better place? I hope so!

Anyway, there is my tribute to my little black vest. What a curious post. I'm a bit weird sometimes, sorry. In this picture I am content and warm in our apartment after a breakfast of stewed apples with vanilla and fresh cream (don't you just love stewed apples in Winter!?) Five minutes later I was whimpering and sad waiting for the bus in some seriously unprepared for wind chill. Bloody Antarctica so close, sending it's wind in our direction. Wide open neckline was so not good this morning.