I’m not much of a fashion person. I’m too tall for most off-the-rack things, so finding pants that go down to my ankles is a challenge, and all my long-sleeve shirts magically transform into 3/4 sleeve shirts when I put them on. And I’d rather spend money on books or food than pay for custom tailoring. Which would be rather silly, really, since I don’t have an office job, don’t have co-workers to impress, and would probably ruin things with all the urban homesteading I attempt.

Shopping is depressing for me because things always fit so badly. Retail Therapy is more stressful and aggravating than therapeutic, so it’s not that hard to resist its siren call. (I probably could have parlayed the irritation into a reasonable skill-set of fashion design, but by the time that thought occurred to me, I had already become rather entrenched in my Clothing Should Be Practical worldview. I’m just recently starting to sew myself the kind of clothes I want to wear, some of which aren’t practical at all since I seem to like long, full skirts. You try cleaning house with 6 1/2 yards of fabric between you and the floor.) I’ve found a few places over the years that have things that are “good enough”, and I stick to those. Eddie Bauer has long pants, if you buy them online. Experience Shoes not only carries my preferred style of Dr. Martens, they’ve also got sensible black pumps (and a lot of non-sensible ones, too, if you’re into that). I’m still looking for reasonably-priced, solid-color, femininely-styled tops with long sleeves that don’t become 3/4 sleeves on me, but for now St. John’s Bay seems to mostly work.

And then, sometimes, I make exceptions. For special, pretty things. Something nice to dress up my ultra-practical, no frills wardrobe. So, when Inca Mama has an online sale, especially a sale with a 75% off discount, I buy something. It’s always soft and warm and makes me feel more like a Lady and less like something that fell off the apple cart. There’s the added karmic perk of knowing that I’m supporting another woman’s small business and that Carmela donates a portion of her revenue back to the villages in Peru where she gets her fibers. During this most recent sale (which is still going on right now!) I added a Banya to my little Inca Mama collection. Next on my list is a Lucy, if Carmela still has any in my size…