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Monday, October 1, 2012

Fashion-Disaster Prevention

I am arguably the clumsiest person on the planet. I have a perpetual bruise on my hip from bumping into my desk on a daily basis, burns on my fingers from my curling wand, and my roommate will testify to the fact that I literally run into the doorframe twice a week because apparently my depth perception is really, really off.
My clumsiness doesn't stop at personal bodily harm, of course. No, it also extends into my wardrobe. This morning I got my coffee, spilled some on my dress, and then promptly sat down on a slightly damp wicker chair that left a tell-tale pattern on the back of my skirt. Years of this kind of behavior has taught me a lot, however. I've pretty much developed a accident-recovery kit that I keep with me at all times, so that I can at least appear to be a put-together individual.


  1. Bottle of Water: In addition to my refillable water bottle for drinking water, I generally keep one of those plastic tiny water bottles in my purse for stain management. I've generally found that, for small stains, rubbing cold water directly on the stain with a paper towel gets rid of it completely, without having to buy and special pens or other stain remover devices.
  2. Nail glue and backup nails: I bite my nails pretty badly, which is obviously really gross, so years ago I discovered that wearing acrylic nails completely wiped out that bad habit. I really just use the cheap drugstore kind, itty-bitty baby ones because my hands are so tiny, with plain white french tips. They look clean and natural, but I am not that careful, and sometimes I'll glance at my hand during the day and realize that one of my fingernails looks much sadder than the others. To avoid that tacky problem, I finally learned to keep a tiny ziplock bag with nail glue and two or three replacement nails on hand for a quick fix. This seems obvious, but for the longest time I would just misplace all the extra nails and have to go buy new ones way, WAY too often.
  3. Safety Pins: While I rarely have to use these myself (of course, now that I've said that, I'll need about 6 of them today), I have made many friends by carrying safety pins with me. There's always someone with a broken zipper, ripped seam, or broken strap who will become your new best friend when you have a safety pin on hand to fix her fashion emergency. 
  4. Hair Spray: Besides the obvious use, hairspray can also pull double duty and help eliminate static. This is especially helpful for dresses that cling just a little too well to your figure.
  5. Needle and Thread: Actually, keep a small assortment of basic colored thread on hand (black, white, brown, beige) to better match an outfit in case of a loose button or seam. I've found these supplies especially useful when I have a wrap dress that isn't quite covering everything on a windy day.  A well placed stitch or two can prevent any accidental indecent exposures or embarrassing mishaps.
  6. Clear Nail Polish: This is probably the most important thing in my bag. Coat costume jewelry in it to avoid getting stains on your skin from the less than quality metals, and use it to stop your tights from fraying, as well as it's original purpose.