Okay so the actual flashpoint here was me wearing a green lace top with literally nothing under it to a rooftop thing in June, and it caused a proper argument in my apartment before I even left, because my roommate walked out of her room, looked at me for a solid three seconds, and said “you’re doing that.” Not a question. I said yes I am doing that. She said okay but you’re going to regret it by ten pm, and honestly, reader, she was correct, because green lace under rooftop string lights is a whole different situation than green lace under my bathroom light at 6pm, and I spent two hours doing the thing where you cross your arms and pretend it’s a stylistic choice.
Because here’s what nobody tells you about a lace top in this specific color, it’s see through in a way that’s genuinely unpredictable depending on the light, like it goes from “cute and covered” to “I can see everything” the second you walk past a window, and I did not discover this until I was already at the party, which, comic timing, very funny, not funny in the moment.
So the underwear question is not optional, it’s the whole ballgame. I ended up going back to a nude bralette because a black one showed through like a Rorschach test and white just looked like I gave up, and once I got that sorted the top actually became one of my favorite pieces I own, which I was NOT expecting to say after the rooftop disaster.
What it goes with, genuinely surprised me, it’s incredible with just plain black trousers, like almost boring on the bottom on purpose so the top gets to do the talking, and it looks great under blazers for the ten minutes of the year Austin is cold enough for that. What it does not go with, any other pattern, I tried it with plaid pants for a shoot and my group chat sent back one flame emoji and then four separate messages basically begging me to reconsider, so we scrapped that take and you’ll never see it.
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The little joy of it is honestly how it photographs, the lace catches light in a way that looks expensive on camera even though mine absolutely was not, and the small annoyance is that it snags on literally everything, my bag strap, a chair, my own bracelet, twice.
Full transparency, this is not a safe pick for everyone, it’s a bit of a gamble if you’re not used to layering for coverage, it rewards someone willing to do a little bit of underwear strategy for a top that pays it back in photos. If that’s not you, no shade, but if it is, it might become the piece you reach for more than the plain ones, which is not what I expected to be typing at the start of this.
