Cotton skirt, altered from Abercrombie & Fitch dress, initially acquired in ‘96?

This one has a story. Back in my high school days, peer pressure led me to occasionally shop at Abercrombie, with their plaid shirts and overpriced tissue tees. I couldn’t afford most of it, but I did once buy a slip dress in that green fabric - a thin and tiny thing with spaghetti straps. I believe I wore it once with a baby tee underneath. (Oh god, remember those? Why did we ever think shirts that didn’t cover our stomachs were a good idea?)

Then my dad threw the dress in the laundry and, of course, the washing cycle completely tore the fine sweatshop craftsmanship, breaking the straps and rendering the whole thing completely useless. As a dress, that is. The whole bottom half was still alright. Some years later (college, I think), I added a slip underneath, and sewed in some elastic around the waist. Ta-da! New again.

See, there is a reason to keep things like this around for years.