Let's Play Dress Up!

I grew up in a family business centered around women's apparel.

This does a lot to f you up.

You have mini moms and mini grandmas forever hovering over your shoulder every morning as you get ready for the day.

"Brush that hair!"

"Fix your lapel!"

"You're slowly disgracing the family name by wearing those holey socks! Do you want to kill the family name, Lauren?! DO YOU?!"

I do not like fashion.

I will never pretend that I know anything about fashion designers, fashion blogs, or America's Next Model Top Runway Style Show.

However, I do like dressing up.

Suspenders, ties, hats, mustaches, scarves, skirts, pantyhose, you name it.

In the want to streamline my blog a bit more, I will be doing a weekly "dress up" post. This will be my version of a fashion post but without the vacant stares, sour pusses, pigeon toes, and scoliosis legs.

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Like any good hipstercrite, I wear a lot of American Apparel and make fun of people who wear it.

However, all joking aside- because American Apparel is a very serious matter- outside of the obvious questionable behavior and practices that we secretly hate to love, there is nothing quite like American Apparel. While quietly judging the photo of a topless model spread eagle on crumpled white sheets and wondering what clothing she's actually modeling in our morning paper, it is easy to forget how innovative in the most simplest and out-of-the-box ways this company has been. It is the largest clothing manufacturer of its size made in America. They use mostly company employees of all shapes and sizes as their models. They offer fair wages, subsidized health care and transportation, and other advantages to their factory workers. The company has a fairly large organic line that costs no more than their non-organic items.

In so many ways, American Apparel is doing more than any other clothing company.

So hats off to American Apparel!

And shirts.

And pants.

And underwear.

This is me in Marfa, Texas. I am hanging out at the Marfa Mystery Lights viewing center because I have nothing else better to do except demand that my mother takes countless photos of me. You can't even see the lights during the day, so why am I here? Well, I'm here to show you my ALL AMERICAN ALL AMERICAN APPAREL outfit.

Hat: Wool Floppy Hat in Luggage (no longer made in that color)

Scarf: Sheer Circle Scarf in Black (one of my top 10 favorite purchases from there-versatile, seasonal, and worth buying. comes in six other colors)

Top: Creme Black Striped Double-U Neck Long Sleeve Bodysuit

Pants: Linen High-Waist Pleated Pant in Pewter (new favorite item- a little expensive, but well made and you will have for a long time. worth the cost.)

Shoes: Vintage from Thrift Town

Sometimes my ass falls asleep when I sit on ledges. My ass has poor circulation because I've had, what they call, a "sedentary" job for the past six years. I am a desk jockey.

Sometimes my mother can be a cruel women.

Do you like American Apparel? What is your favorite item from there? What do you not like about American Apparel?