BELTANE to MEMORIAL DAY countdown: Some Girly Action

Every so often I stray off in to girly land, when a well considered ruffle or bow—design details that I generally find to be trite and categorically barfy—strike a chord somewhere deep within my feminine soul, and call out to me. They whisper in my ear to abandon efforts to be edgy and inventive, and give in to the ease of girliness. I especially tend to hear these whispers when I am hung over, my senses are dulled, and my brain responds only to the most basic aesthetic cues. This tank, my #13 TOP TANK TOP, falls in to this particular category.

I found this guy on a recent outing in Queens, at a small shop in Sunnyside. They had a huge rack of tanks that were all $3 each, and when I saw this piece, it was too good, if a little bit too girly, to pass up for a mere 3 bones. The girly factors of this tank are very well composed. The ruffle edges are subtle, the drawstring tie waist is a nod to bow rather than being one, while the double dose of the floral and the plaid threatens to push it over the edge, the quality of the execution pulls it back before it goes over. But the thing that really sold me on this piece in the end was the sweet textile action. And we all know that I am a sucker for sweet textile action. Let me explain.

The plaid pattern is yard dyed in to the fabric, meaning the yarns were dyed before they were woven in to the plaid design. The floral pattern however, is printed on top of the yarn dye, making this top of a double dose of surface design technique. Actually very sophisticated, thoughtful, and a lot more design process than one ever sees in these days of fast and cheap clothing.

And that, my friends, is why you gotta love thrifting.