won't you ring the alarm, i've been through this too long

[note: this is yesterday's post, being posted a little late since studying won out over photoshopping last night. enjoy! i'm off to see the black kids play at paradise!]


i found myself this morning facing my usual weekday morning dilemma: how to make myself look stylishly presentable in under forty minutes. i have class every morning at ten, and considering i actually make it to that first class, i always set my alarm at night for eight. then in the morning, i always inevitably manage to snooze until around eight thirty if i have to shower, or nine-ish if i've showered the night before. either way, by nine o'clock i'm standing in front of my closet as the minutes tick away, trying to pick out something decent to wear and maybe make it downstairs to catch a quick breakfast before catching the nine fifty shuttle to campus. sometimes i try and let my mood help me decide what to wear for the day, but i'm generally not a morning person, and with a few rare exceptions, my morning moods generally induce dark and monochromatic outfits, chic at the very least in terms of simplicity, if not originality.

this morning, however, a light bulb went off as i stepped out of the shower. i rushed to my laptop and flipped it open, locating my desktop itunes icon. i decided that once it opened, i would click play and whatever the first song was that played, i would dress accordingly. a wave of fear washed over me as i hit the button. what if i got "the thrill is gone"? "puppy love"? "everybody's free (to wear sunscreen)"? almost simultaneously, i felt a giddy surge of excitement. how much fun would it be to play with "back to black," "black velvet," or "blinded in chains"? (i envisioned a givenchy fall 2008-inspired look with lots of chains, and well, black.) i realized that itunes apparently had no intentions of letting me fall back on my severe color dependency as yelle's "jogging" came on. i breathed a noncommittal sigh. it's a song that i neither love or hate, from an artist i like but don't love. jogging, though? should i whip out sweatpants and running shoes, with some sweatbands to boot? luckily, i don't own any of those items, so i went for plan b: an outfit that captures the essence of yelle's electropop and bright, punchy style.

top: h&m, skirt: urban outfitters, tights: american apparel, shoes: charles albert. hanging high-heel courtesy of bcbg max azria

i knew that this skirt, which i bought over the weekend was a perfect starting point, allowing me to wear a bunch of colors in one garment, without looking like i got dressed in the dark (and it has pockets! there are few things in this world that make me happier than a really awesome dress or skirt with pockets. it should really be a fashion industry standard). i fought the urge to wear a black shirt and black everything else by digging out this purple shirt that perfectly matches the purple in the skirt.. and then i piled on black everything else. nevertheless, i consider this to be quite a departure from the usual, and i had fun channeling something random in a limited amount of time.. kind of like project runway for non-designers. i'm looking forward to trying this again tomorrow. but don't expect pictures if i get something ridiculous like "kokomo" or "piano man".

"56th and wabasha.." (i figured i should also offer up a proper song of the day..)

edit: come to think of it, i had so much fun with this, i want to share it with all of you. that's right, i'm tagging, namely, the stylish wanderer, shiny kid, and marina of still better or worse. i've always wondered just who comes up with these blog tag things.. this time, i guess it's me. unless this has been done before in the past, in which case.. it's not me.