Of libraries and leather skirts

These past few weeks have been a blur of translating – books about kimono patterns and moss and a hair salon catalogue all due around the same time have meant I’ve been giving the online Japanese dictionary a pounding and using up too much of my extremely limited data. So off I went to the library** to use their free wi-fi.

It’s not my fault that the library just happens to be near the Salvos, and I could hardly be blamed for dropping in to clear my mind of moss/kimono/hair styles, now, could I? And if a leather skirt – in exactly my size and in a design that I would never find again even if I searched high and low – caught my eye, well, I couldn’t just ignore it and stare dreamily off into the distance…

Meh, enough of trying to use the backyard scenery to give you a bit of a change from the usual backdrops… it’s easier to see the details if I revert to the boring grey. So here you go.

The skirt felt very high waisted when I tried it on in-store, but looking at it in these photos it actually appears fairly normal in that regard. Maybe over the years we’ve just got so used to hip-hanging things that a natural waist feels odd.

Where it really differs from other long leather skirts is the elastic panelling on the side of the waist which you can see in this shot (and so could I, if I had my eyes open).

I had my doubts about it when I was trying it on because a) do I really need more clothes? and b) was the waist really that flattering?, but its unique design won me over, even though it was $29.45 (pretty expensive by my standards!).

I’ve only worn it once yet so haven’t explored all the styling possibilities but from the compliments I got (ie workmates wanting to “just borrow it” to have it copied overseas) I think I made the right decision in buying it! Bring on more translating at the library… it’s a good excuse to “just go and have a look” in the Salvos again!

*If you like my earrings, you can see them in more detail here.

 

**This could be a whole separate ranty post, but what is it with the lack of quiet in libraries these days? There are people talking in loud voices on their phones, kids discussing homework and just gossiping, toddlers running around and even guys eating their cooked lunches in the library lately! I was longing for the sound of “SHHHHH” from the librarians but it was, alas, not forthcoming. I feel very old and curmudgeonly but surely we should have a guarantee of SOME quiet space in a LIBRARY???!