Spring things 2.

In one of my very first blog posts I made mention to my love of striped shirts. Now, don't get me wrong, I do love a good stripe, but there is one kind of shirt -- with no stripes whatsoever--that tops them all.

And it is the kind that looks like this.

White-ish. Gauzy. Some sort of pirate/Shakespearean/Renaissance/belled/puffy sleeve. I enjoy them immensely.

I have quite the collection, as you can see (there is a 6th, but it is not in the pictures because I am wearing it).They might not be the most modern looking thing, but I will have you know they are ALL from normal stores (Express, Rampage, Wet Seal, etc), and not a costume shop.

Every fall, when I swap out my cold weather clothes for the warmer weather ones, I pack them all into a box. Come spring I unpack them, and get excited all over again. They are just too fun! Stick a tank top under 'em and *boom,* we have pirate magic.

I have to admit, I love wearing costumes, or anything that feels costume-like. I think it stems from the fact that as a kid I didn't celebrate Halloween, but my mom said I could wear a costume any of the other 364 days of the year, if I wanted to. And I took her up on that quite frequently. I distinctly remember going to the dentist in a poodle skirt, going to a fall fair in a Native American-type outfit, and attending kindergarten in my "Snow White dress" (wasn't really one, I just called it that). And I was the kid with the HUGE dress-up box in my basement (though, I spent more time telling my sister and her friends what I wear, than I ever did dressing myself up). And then those couple high school years of Shakespearean acting probably added to my issues...

To this day, I will not pass up an opportunity for full out costumage.

Usually I try to not look like a college-kid playing dress up, but it is not unusual for someone to ask me "Wait, is it pirate day?" (to which I respond, "It is ALWAYS pirate day.") or for a person to say,"You look like a pirate." ("I am a pirate.")

*{I have also been accused of being Peter Pan, Robin Hood, an LOTR Elf, and other fantasy-type beings.}

While you may think I look crazy, or that some part of me belongs on a movie set or back in a book, I don't mind at all. I am having fun. And I wait all fall/winter for these shirts. I will take advantage of EVERY opportunity to wear them. And if you don't like it, I guess I could keelhaul you or something...