Dress #27

Today (8/5), I wore my black skirt with blue flowers to work.  I was having really painful cramps because of my period so I wanted to wear a skirt that was loose fitting and dark.  I didn't want to wear jeans since they'd press down on my stomach.  I really like this skirt but rarely wear it.  I think it's really pretty but it has major static cling problems.  Plus, it's really big on me.  I had to rely on my tight tank top to hold it in place and I had to keep pulling it up if it fell too low throughout the day or it would fall down low on my hip revealing my underwear.

I don't think I could ever part with this skirt.  Even though I don't wear it that often and it's too big for me, it has sentimental value.  I got it in 2004 in Venice while I was at my college's study abroad program.  My school owned a castle in Well, Netherlands that they turned into a dormitory.  Their summer study abroad program was a five week course about Flemish art, digital photography and web design.  It was an odd course.  The idea was to study art, take digital photographs and create a website about different Flemish artists.  The three components didn't exactly go together but we did it and the website turned out pretty good.  We had two excursions for our art studies.  Bruges, Belgium and Venice, Italy.  I really loved Venice.  We stayed on the Lido (bigger island off San Marco) and took the ferry in to the main island every day. Venice is a maze of small walkways that drop off into the canal so it's very easy to get lost but it's a gorgeous city.  One of my classmates had a beautiful skirt and I asked her where she got it.  She said there was a small stand at the end of the Rialto Bridge that was selling them.  She even showed me where and I got this one.  I really liked the blue flowers on black.

I wore it out that night during our free time to the beach.  The Lido actually has sand beaches and they say the opposite side not facing the main island has clean enough water to swim in which we did during the day.  I didn't dunk my head in but I went in waist deep.  That night there were some bars on the beach and we went out to one.  I didn't really like the atmosphere that much.  It was just an outdoor tiki stand, quiet and boring.  I walked off to another bar next door on my own because the other girls didn't want to leave.  I sat at a mostly empty table (there was one other guy sitting at it at the opposite end) and had a drink.  It got kind of weird because I realized later it was a gay bar.  The other guy's boyfriend came back from wherever he was and kept rudely staring me down.  I'm not sure what he was so pissed about because I didn't say a word to his boyfriend and I wasn't even siting near him.  I finished my drink and decided to leave because he wasn't backing down on the glaring stares.  As I was leaving he following me outside and I realized he was trying to pick a fight with me.  I just walked away and didn't look back.  It was a weird experience.  I just felt bad that someone could be that insecure in their relationship.  The trip was a great intro to Venice for me.  I vowed to go back, which I did in 2011 with Joe.

There's no real information on the skirt.  It only has one tag that says the maker and size.  It's made by Ling Xin.  Size L.  I wore it with one of my black GapBody tank tops.  95% cotton, 5% spandex.  Size M.  Made in Vietnam.  Did I ever mention that I really love Gap tank tops?