deciding what to wear...

Growing up in Taiwan, deciding what to wear had once been easy - I had about 3 sets of clothes that pretty much covered all the occasions: uniform for school, that one dress that made me feel like a princess for weddings and all other important occasions (including road trips), and tracksuits of random knockoff cartoon characters for weeknights and weekends (checkout those cool Power Rangers  Elite Xtreme Warriors!). It was a no-brainer, and no one was really judgmental because how can you play bbguns with the boys in a banana trees forest when you're all decked out in Gap Kids?

But everything in life grows complicated when you grow up - one day, came the job interviews, and doremish had her first pair of high heels, which brought a ton of pain and made her kick them off and walk barefooted on the pavement on her way home from the job fair. Then she discovered a new expression which still doesn't quite make sense: "business casual". I remember looking at my first job offer and googling it up - and playing it safe by wearing a suit the first day (read: week). Slowly, the business-casual-monster ate up my closet, my wallet, and an entire precious 10 minutes every morning during which I never seem to find the appropriate thing to wear for work. Every time I pass by the stores (RWCO, BR, Dynamite, Jacob...), a stress signal reminds me of its constant need of being fed: "Hmmm, I guess I should get something for Business Casual on my way back."

After a couple of years, I've narrowed it down to a couple of favorite pieces like back in high school when you used to be recognizable with that t-shirt...that hoodie, etc. I've finally attained a comfortable plateau; the monster is now middle-aged, has a relationship belly, and pretty much settled. Then all of a sudden, people around me start getting married, they stop being too cheap to pay a toonie for Jeans Fridays, they start having big parties and dress up, and they start dressing up on weekends to go shopping to dress up on weekends so they can go shopping.

But now, I open my closet, and all I see is business casual. I find myself pondering - is a pencil skirt too "business-like" to attend a birthday party that specifies no-jeans? (answer is yes). Do I wear this work top with jeans for Jeans Friday or are nice tee-shirts allowed? What kind of shoes goes with this outfit? Is this dress more for work, or is it more for a wedding? How can I slut-this-up without people asking me for quotes on my way to the club or the bouncer wondering if I am there to audit their ass? (never happened, I walked the line pretty well!)

It's all fine lines, though, and although I spend quite a few hours every week tidying up my place, one simple dress code text message ("semi-formal", "dress up", "dressy casual tonight!") can wreck serious havoc as I try to throw something into the definition - and all over the floor. Of course, a part of me wants to secretly cheer "Nailed It!" when I happen to put together something nicely, but in those moments before I figure things out, I dream about a world of just good old fat robes.