Thoughts While Clothes Shopping

I've been reading a lot of musings (mostly from fellow goth, lolita, and vintage enthusiasts) on personal style. One point that came up pretty often was that there may be a certain aesthetic you follow, but that gets boring pretty fast if you follow the "rules" precisely without making up your own. I feel no need to contribute another personal style post, but I have developed some pretty regular thought patterns that occur whenever I go clothes shopping, and those seemed potentially amusing. So, without further excuses:

DARTS ARE EVIL. Evil, evil darts. Especially in the chest, because with my binder they make for little flaps of fabric that look awkward as fuck. Even when the fabric is dark enough and the darts are subtle enough so they aren't too noticeable, I WILL STILL NOTICE THEM. And they will bug me. Same goes for jackets (which generally aren't actually a big deal if I don't button then). And it basically also means no (more) dresses.

Everything must go with other things. Which in my case basically means it must be black. Because I don't want to go practically taking the whole store home with me. There were a number of years during which I didn't really think about this and snapped up anything that tickled my fancy, and some pretty interesting outfits resulted from the mix. I sometimes look back at the photos from when I was sixteen with a bit of nostalgia, but when I actually put on--say, that bright red probably polyester sweater with the quilted front that I used to like to wear with my black bondage collar so much--I just don't feel as good about how they look. And the red PVC dress to the left has darts, anyhow o_____o.

Pastel dresses with puffy sleeves and skirts don't actually suit me. They may be adorable on others, and I could probably look adorable in them as well with the right accessories and make-up, but I just don't like pastels enough on myself to bother.

EW CLINGY JERSEY CRAP. It's everwhere. Especially in the womens' section. Once in awhile it's almost tempting. But mostly its just gross and I manage to ignore it. Sometimes I see something that looks like it would be awesome if it were made from better fabric, which is kind of saddening.

I like clean and simple designs. This is actually more of a problem in alternative speciality stores and the internet when I see things that are covered in zippers and chains and lace and think they look cool in the photos. But actually they don't. Once I try to imagine them on me they just scream "trying too hard."

I WANNA BE QUIRKY and have neon plastic party favor-y things dangling off my ears and pinned to my clothes and buy cute eighties clothes that that aren't black and look vaguely like Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink... oh wait, I actually don't. At least, not after the novelty of whatever funny-looking thing I bought wears off. This is an impulse that crops up a lot at Mauer Park flea market.

OOH PERFECT MELLO SHOES--wait, Mello's not that girly. I've been looking for a pair of black leather dress boots for my Mello cosplay for nearly a year now. Every once in a while I come across a fairly nice looking pair--or at least, until I pick it up and find that it has heels. They don't even have to be tall or thin--any kind of heel, and it seems like they automatically make my feet look girly and dainty instead of big and stompy and intimidating like Mello's feet ought to look. This is relevant because I'm pondering making my Mello shoes my regular shoes as well (work boots as a default pair since my current pair is getting pretty worn, and dress boots as my dress shoes to replace the cheapass pair I originally got for high school band concerts.) That is, if I can find good quality AND accurate shoes for a price I can actually afford XD.