Pom Poms and Ripped Boyfriend Jeans

Oh, the trials and tribulations of wearing pom-poms. The embarrassing things that happened to me while wearing this pom-pom sweatshirt:

1. I was SO excited to wear it for the first time. I met my friend Denise for dinner, pulled off my coat, ready to make my bold fashion statement (wink wink) and... one of the pom-poms was MIA. Gah! Where did I find it? In my coat sleeve! (First lesson: probably not a great top to wear with a coat. Noted.)

2. The next time I wore it, Tom's mom took one look at me and... kinda burst out laughing (in the most loving way!). Lesson two: This top is going to look a little silly to some people, as any good fashion risk will! Duly noted.

3. Then, for this very shoot with Tom, ANOTHER pom-pom fell off. (I had safety-pinned the original MIA one back on.) Thankfully I was able to safety pin the second pom-pom trying to jump ship back into place, too. I was starting to feel discouraged for sure, though. So, dear readers, you might be wondering, why recommend a top that, well, is having a hard time keeping it together?!

Here's the thing: Even though the pom-poms tend to fall off, I still adore this sweatshirt. It's super comfortable, it makes a fuzzy statement, and it's just pure fun. So, yes, I'll risk leaving a trail of poms in my wake whenever I wear it, but to me it's worth it, as crazy as that sounds. The point here is that fashion is like life (lesson three): fun and messy. It doesn't always work out quite the way we planned. But when the pom-poms hit the fan and things feel like they're falling apart around you, we have a choice: we can let it really get us down or we can try and see the humor in it. This is not to suggest we should be happy all the time, because of course that wouldn't be possible or healthy. More that this whole experience reminded me not to get too upset or caught up in the little things. To keep going, find what's funny in the moment, and usually things turn out pretty good in the end.

There's a special spot in my heart for this top, but word to the wise: If you're thinking about buying it, you'll need to stock up on safety pins... (Or perhaps a hot glue gun!)

P.S. The weather has been so weird in NYC (climate change, ugh), 70 degrees one day and 30 degrees the next. Wherever you're living, if you're looking to wear your most ripped jeans while it's still freezing out, pair 'em with fishnet stockings. It was pretty cold for this shoot and I swear that extra (albeit thin and hole-y) layer made me feel so much warmer, and gave the outfit a bit of edginess to balance out the sweetness of the pom-poms.