Knot a big deal

20121207-073237.jpg When we were young, friendship bracelets were a colorful marker that we were loved by our peers. They might have been lumpy, imperfectly patterned or weirdly colored, but they were ours. Now we're older and the bracelets are back in style.

I've always been a perfectionist when it comes to gifts. If I'm making my presents, the pattern will be perfectly executed or tweaked until it is. A couple years ago, I started making friendship bracelets again. Some of the harder patterns didn't come out perfectly on the first try, so I would go back and correct the patterns.

What was interesting, though, was that most patterns were made by knotting string. Physically, knots are tied to combine or hold things. Symbolically, they represent endurance and lasting unions. Therefore, each bracelet is an independent representation of the depth and length of the friendship by its very nature.

It's interesting to me that they would become fashionable and available for purchase. Those seem less symbolic of the bonds of friendship and more of a statement piece. That is not to say that store bought pieces of jewelry cannot be important or treasured, but friendship bracelets are about very personal bonds that are strengthened by circumstances that might break other relationships.

Save one, I have kept every bracelet I've been given in my adulthood. It seems that the bracelets are more meaningful when they're for/from people you choose to be around. They are absolutely unique, just like my friends, and I treasure them accordingly.

Post inspired by an old friend giving me a bracelet she'd made when I saw her for the first time in a coffee shop today.

Walk, walk fashion baby

Fashion is not my thing. I’ll pin the occasional haute couture or prêt-à-porter item on Pinterest, but I’d rather be looking at Star Wars humor posts or knitting. When Adam found out I didn’t know Bond’s pea coat was designed in Alabama, he was pretty shocked. Basically, if you leave out the holiday sweaters and herd of tiny dogs, I’m a nerdy 60-year-old trapped in a 23-year-old’s body.

Aside from a turtleneck and some layering shirts, all of my clothing is at least two years old. I hate shopping, Black Friday and malls, so I buy classic items so I don’t have to go there often. The last time my mom took me shopping for my birthday, I got the same shirt in six colors. Don’t worry, I don’t normally wear two in the same week.

Being 6’1”, most shirts show part of my stomach and most skirts make me look like a streetwalker, so when I find something I like, I’ll usually buy it. Recently, the only place that has consistently had clothing that fit has been J. Crew. Their designs usually feature clean lines and modest enough cuts for daily wear, even for me.

In the past two years, I’ve only been able to find one pair of slacks that were decently flattering. They’re even long enough that I can wear heels, but the walk from the parking lot to my office precludes the use of four of the five pairs of work appropriate shoes I own.

Because the department of the company I work for is quite conservative, my work clothes are pretty uniform. Most days you’ll catch me in the black pointy-toed flats, gray wide-legged slacks, messy hair and a vacuum tube necklace. The only regular change is the shirt I pair with this combination. Sad, I know, but I can only do so much in the fifteen minutes before my 30 minute commute.

My closet is full enough that if I wanted to, I could dress well and looked polished every day. It’s been so much easier recently to stay rumpled—to dress appropriately for work but not look entirely professional. If you ask Adam, if I’m rumpled it’s only because of the science.

Title comes from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." We've already established I have a penchant for trashy music.