Bungalow Babe Gets Dressed: Part I

Precious Readers,

I hereby inaugurate a new fun feature to Bungalow Babe in the Big City -- a periodic fashion blog-within-a-blog called Bungalow Babe Gets Dressed.

A tip 'o the hat to HOBB for coming up with that way-cool title.

And speaking of hats... and tights and dresses and other articles of clothing... each post of Bungalow Babe Gets Dressed will include a narrative on the featured garments.

The settings for the photographs will vary from the interior of the Urban Bungalow to any photogenic location where I look relatively thin and wrinkle-free.

Herewith, the first installment of Bungalow Babe Gets Dressed:

Greetings Bungaleers!

Here I am, posing fetchingly on the new floor of my kitchen wearing a favorite ensemble: black sleeveless minidress, kooky tights and a hat I bought at a sidewalk vendor outside of Zabar's, last summer.

As my Dr. Martens are not visible in the photo above, I'm attaching a second pic that shows them:

As you can see, they are cute and clunky ankle-high lace-up boots that HOBB continually complains about as I like to wear them around the house. They are my third -- and most beloved -- pair of Dr. Martens. I am a HUGE fan of this brand, both for its design and construction. Doc Martens aren't cheap but you will end up wearing them until they disintegrate...which will likely not occur this century.

My dress is a StudioM cotton and rayon knit shift that I bought at Loehmann's a while ago. I wore it TO DEATH for a few years, then forgot about it and only found it when our house was being packed away during our recent renovation. As it was musty and dusty, I threw it in the laundry and it emerged clean, softer and shorter. The washing machine transformed the dress from something vaguely Amish into awesome. It is now fitted across the bust and ends about three inches above my knees.

The moral of the story is: NEVER THROW ANY ARTICLE OF CLOTHING OUT!!! You can always transform and repurpose it.

Paired with the dress are raspberry tights from American Apparel, a store I violently hate, except for their tights. Actually, I prefer tights from Hue, but the discount Danskin shop on Broadway and 82nd Street has been carrying the most boring colors lately, so I got lazy and ducked into the American Apparel near Fairway after a recent food shopping expedition.

And as I already mentioned, the hat is a street purchase, made of woven paper. It solves bad hair days and deflects rain. It cost about eight buckaroos.

To achieve these amazing pics, HOBB stood on top of the highly unstable step ladder we brought with us from our home in New Rochelle about 18 years ago. Terrified he would fall and break his neck, he summoned Little Babe to take the rest of the pics and spotted him while I lounged on the kitchen floor.

I'd love your comments.