When Hard to Care For is Worth It

Hi there. This has been an interesting week and I may be regretting my decision to switch my internet provider, but I won't know for sure until later today at the earliest.  It turns out there is no way to test my phone jacks without having the equipment that has still not arrived. So anyway on to a happier subject, clothes.

Most of the time I avoid purchasing items of clothing with embellishment.  Having worked at a dry cleaners for a few years I know how difficult it can be to care for embellished items of clothing. Sparkle flakes off eventually, sequins bend, melt and also fall off.  Beading can be especially difficult because many times a patch of beading is attached with one length of thread which means that when one bead comes loose the entire section can follow.  Beading can also make ironing difficult. Sometimes, however,  an embellished item of clothing is so awesome that I buy it anyway.  When I do this I try to ensure that it is a quality piece of clothing and not a "fast fashion" brand.  One such item is this amazing skirt that I bought from Ebay a few years ago.

It is from Odille, a brand the is carried at Anthropologie stores.  I fell in love with this skirt precisely because of the embellishment. I love the color and pattern of the bead-work.

Because this skirt makes me so happy I am willing to put more work into its care and maintenance that I usually do.  I try not to wash it every time I wear it, but being a white skirt, and me being a general klutz, I am lucky to get two wears before there are stains.  When I do wash it, always in cold water, I turn it inside out and put it in a mesh bag for delicate items so that none of the threads holding the beads on can catch on anything.

I then hang it up to dry and iron it slowly and carefully first inside out and then around the beads on the outside. I think that I have owned this skirt for ten years or so  and I hope that by taking special care of it I will have it for another decade.

Update:  And back to technology briefly. It turns out that my phone jacks do work and I called and cancelled the rest of my services with Company A this morning. I was also able to return the new router that we bought two weeks ago for a full refund because we no longer need it. Yay for surprise money savings!

See you soon.