style?

I wrote awhile back that I'm feeling a shift in style - I've always admired people who are so expressive with their wardrobe! I...never really have been. I feel like I've been repressed in some ways, trying to fit in to some kind of mold. I remember in school being obsessed with the "preppy" crowd, always feeling a step behind fashionably. True, there were the pink leather shoes in 3rd grade and the brown choker in high school science that got laughed at by the "in" crowd (and yes I absolutely remember the names of those girls). My Sundays were often spent drug to flea markets and resale shops. I really, really didn't like going at first and then as the years went by I realized I could find pretty dresses at Marshall's (back when it was awesome) that other girls weren't wearing, and that just the right mindset and couple hours of digging could  produce some awesome finds.

So, naturally, I'm kind of obsessed with Buffalo Exchange. Unfortunately, I have NO CLUE about brands or couture or whatever other than what I get from Project Runway. (example A: Someone said something about "DVF" on the show and I had to google it.) My theory in choosing clothes is that I don't care what brand it is, if it looks terrible on you, and you really don't love it, it's not worth it. So yesterday I took a little momma break and dug for about an hour and a half and came up with three things: a pair of jeans, a blouse, and a tee-shirt. 

Part of this style revival is due to the fact that with the raw veganism has come some weight-loss...enough that I'm having a hard time stretching my wardrobe into wearable stuff that still looks good without wearing the same thing every day. 

So the jeans. I've decided it's high time to get grownup jeans. I'm pretty curvy, and found early on that the only thing I look decent in is American Eagle jeans, which I've worn religiously pretty much since high school, with the occassional pair of dark wash Gap wide legs...which...had to be bequeathed to my mom because they no longer fit. It's an awesome problem to have. Anyhoo, I found a pair that I could live with for like $28.50 that I had to Google in the dressing room to figure out if they were worth it because everything else on the rack was like, $12. Come to find out new ones can go for like $180 AND come with a princess bonus because apparently it's the same brand Kate Middleton wears. SCORE! 

The tops are kinda funky, and one I can't really decide if I'm going to keep...I hate when I come home and something doesn't look as good as it did in the dressing room - it's usually the other way around. And then there was a $6 shirt that had some sweet toucans on it. I couldn't resist. Sidenote: there was totally a DVF shirt at the store that I tried on just for grins. It looked gross on me. Oh well.

The OTHER thing I'm incapable of resisting is tights. While I was pregnant I came to love tights, as my expanding belly meant shorter and shorter skirt lengths. I have become a little obsessed but have been able to restrain myself. Again, I have to LOVE it (or it has to be ridiculously on sale) if I'm going to think about buying it. Except for the one time I found a $10 sweater at Anthro that I wasn't sure about its place in my wardrobe. Best $10 I ever spent in that store. So anyway, Target is so far the easiest place to find tights - they have a pretty array of designs and colors and hey, you're going to Target anyway, may as well pick up some leg bling. You should go right now - they've got a great selection. I bought these swirly pretty ones that now I just have to find the right dress for. And the right shoes. Any tips on wearing tights with shoes other than boots? I can't seem to find the right combination that doesn't look goofy.