Last Friday I zipped into our nearby Ropa Americana thrift store in San Rafael de Heredia in pursuit of some warm-weather clothes. We were leaving early the next morning for eight days in Nicaragua. I had only one lightweight skirt and a pair of pink running shorts in my suitcase full of layers. I don’t really like shorts, except for running. Skirts are usually cooler, and when I’m wearing them, I feel more professional.
As the seasoned WanderChic reader knows by now, I’m in Costa Rica for the semester, teaching at my school’s campus there. I packed for campus weather, which, at about 6,000 feet during Costa Rica’s rainy season, tends to be in the 60s and maybe 70s, rather than the 90s+ mega-humidity of Nicaragua.
In less than half an hour, I found three cotton skirts that fit the bill. All three are prints, which allow me to experiment with my love of tastefully clashing patterns. The skirt I’m wearing as I write this is a long skirt in a cotton heavy enough to have some shape, kind of like the skirt at the top of this post (from dollsofindia.com). The waist is high and snug. The skirt’s not crinkly like a peasant skirt. (I’m not trying to sound snooty about peasant skirts. Some are cute. But I spent all of high school draped in baggy clothes and find myself now craving more fitted garments.)
I like this long skirt, even though I was joking with a couple of girls that I was afraid it read Missionary Chic or Sister Wife or Dowdy to the Max. I paired this long skirt with a tighter fitting v-neck t-shirt in bright colors in hopes of neutralizing the possible frump factor.
I felt relieved when an especially stylish undergrad informed me that I was “working it.” More than one student has asked where I find my cute skirts.
I’m also digging the 80s skirt, second from top (photo from loveitsomuch.com). OK, I cheated. This skirt is not cotton but silk (which is higher maintenance than what I’ve packed). I also admire this shorter model (from americanvintage-store.com) and found a Gap skirt of similar length (though more subdued print) at Ropa America:
Reader, we’re halfway through the trip, and I’ve already started my MacGuyver sink laundry. I’ve broken my running-shoes-only-for-running rule (we were required to wear closed-toed shoes on a fair-trade coffee farm we visited, and my feet needed a break from flipflops during our walking tour of Managua.)
But for the most part, the four skirts in eight days plan seems to be working. I’m thinking of it as my own fashion week.