How I wore it: kicking it old school

Once upon a time, there was a girl who worked out so often that she had no problem showing off her arms and shoulders. Although skinny pants weren't the norm back then, she didn't feel the need to balance out her body by pairing tight pants with big boots. She didn't even like boots that much in those days! The horror!

Hi, folks. Today my husband and I joined other Greeks for their Independence Day Parade (or, as I call it, Greek Pride Day) and lunch. The weather report promised rain, but not till late, and the weather was mild and humid: too warm for jeans and boots. So ... I pulled out non-jean pants. And flats. And then I didn't know what to pair them with. So I pulled out an old favorite combo.

I present to you...

... one of my beloved tube tops with a generic pair of ill-fitting pants! 

I'm gonna be honest with you: however trashy it may be considered, I. Love. Tube tops. For real. I don't know why, considering that my arms are, bar none, my least favorite parts of my body. I constantly have to keep hitching them to keep them in place. I own four, in four different colors. Which are different from the tube tops I used to own. However, I just love them. They're a simple summer staple for me and used as layering basics during the winter. 

I first was fascinated in the halcyon days of 2003, when I was about to graduate from college. I was in Baltimore, visiting my then boyfriend, and we passed by a Gap. On a whim, I tried on a tube top for the first time. It had such a constricting support system that I scratched my face badly trying to wrestle myself out of it. The way it looked, though, lingered in my brain for some years.

Fast forward to early 2006; I'm in grad. school, and off to the library with a good friend of mine, gossiping on the way about an intriguing Greek guy with whom I was in contact (soon to become my boyfriend, then fiancé, then husband... aww); we stopped by the on-campus American Apparel to see what was up. I found some cute cropped tube tops and went to try them on. When I got out of the dressing room, my friend approved and informed me in a wail that she "looked RANCID in a tube top" (words that, naturally, I've never forgotten), and I never looked back. Those particular tops (I bought them in bright green, bright red, and black) have fallen out of favor with me, as they were quite short and non fitted... hmmm... I now kinda miss them...

... Anyway, I fell in love with Express tube tops because of their strong support and length and fit, and those are the ones I now wear constantly, as my "modesty tops" under low-cut dresses and by themselves with summer skirts and pants.

Apart from the fact that they have an awesome retro kitsch factor to them, I think that they're the most casually sexy of tops. There's something quite naughty in wearing a shirt that doesn't have anything at all going on with the shoulders, that just starts at the breasts.

What do you think?

Happy Sunday!

Swirly-dotted tube top: Express
Navy pants: Gap
Buffalo plaid flats: American Eagle, via Payless