"Sexy": Forbidden vocabulary explored through pencil skirts

Okay, so I'm going to go way out of my comfort zone for this post.

Those of you who've been following me for awhile probably know that my style is best described with words like "cute," "adorable," "silly," "conservative," and "feminine." Not words like "sexy," "alluring," and "body conscious." It was hard for me to even type those words, actually. I think I'm cute (hence the blog title), but sexy was never an adjective I was comfortable with or one that I felt described me at all. Accordingly, I'm more into the flowy, full skirt look than more fitted items on my lower half. Or my upper half, really, although I seem to be slightly more capable of wearing form-fitting tops. (To clarify, I think it is awesome if other people want to dress this way! I just don't tend to do it myself because it feels awkward for me and not my style, and I don't feel like myself.) I'd rather pretend I'm a princess in my flowy skirts than wear tight jeans any day, so it's really not typical for me to step out of the house in something that might be edging into hotness-territory. And then I got this skirt from Ruche, thinking that I don't have any pencil skirts, and it sure is adorable, and the price is right, and I maybe need it. And I do love it, and it sure is adorable, but oh my, to quote Maria is "my butt some serious business" in this skirt.



Okay, so maybe it's not as bad in the photos as it is in my head, and I'm sure this is considered tame by typical standards. But. It's a pencil skirt. A pretty darn form fitting one, too. And I'm wearing it. Surely the universe will fold in, right? Also, although I'm totally fine wearing this in public and posting it on the blog, I'm pretty sure it is not work appropriate (weigh in if you feel otherwise, though!). Do I really want to keep something I can't wear to work? And yet, it does seem to look good on me (again, weigh in if you feel otherwise!). I do work very, very hard to stay in shape, and it seems a shame to hide that shape all the time. As you probably know, I've felt awkward about myself and about my body/shape for a good portion of my life -- something I've tried to remedy with this blog -- and wouldn't this be a good step to being more proud of myself?




(Yeah, that's the tag that I was too afraid to remove because this was taken during the "try it on and decide" phase.)

So this was my dilemma. Finally, I was leaning towards "It's unlike anything else you own, and it looks good on you, and you should wear it out even if you can't wear it to work." Then I asked my boyfriend what he thought, just to have a final vote. It might not surprise you that he approves of this outfit and thinks I should keep the darn skirt.

In the end, I decided, keep it I shall. Posting these pictures is a big change for me as-is and very out of my comfort zone, so I hope I haven't blinded you all and that my blog doesn't implode. But 2011 has been the Year of Being True to Myself, and accordingly I'm going to keep sexy skirts that look good on me, post pictures of myself wearing them, and not be afraid of using words like "sexy" to describe my style. Sometimes. On occasion. And definitely not in the office.

Baby steps, right?