Two years ago I would’ve told you a gold wrap skirt was a “special occasion” purchase, the kind of thing that comes out for one wedding and then sits in the closet judging you for the other 364 days. That was my whole stance on the category. I’ve come around on it slowly and a little against my will, the way you come around on a coworker you were sure you’d hate.
The one I actually wear started as an experiment I fully expected to lose money on. Nine dollars at the place on the corner I check every Tuesday, satin finish, the kind of gold that photographs like a lamp got involved. I wore it once to see if it was a costume or a skirt.
It was a skirt. Fourteen wears later I’ve stopped counting it as a risk and started counting it as one of my better decisions this year, which, given the year, isn’t saying much, but it’s saying something.
The tie situation is where I lost real time. The internal button most of these have is a joke, it does nothing, I have sat down on a train and felt the whole thing negotiate with gravity in real time. What actually works is tying it, then double knotting like you’re mad at it, then tucking the tail flat instead of letting it swing, because a swinging tail catches on everything, chair legs, bag straps, a stranger’s umbrella once, that was a whole moment on the platform.
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Tops were more trial and error than I want to admit. A silky cami looked bridal in a bad way, all that gold with all that slip, like I was headed to my own second wedding. A plain white tee fixed it instantly, cut the formal down to almost nothing, and became the actual uniform. A chunky sweater in winter worked too, though it hides the waist tie completely, which half of me thinks defeats the point and the other half thinks is the whole point, hiding the effort while still wearing it.
Tights I abandoned fast. Sheer black looked expensive for about four hours and then ran, obviously, because sheer tights always run, I don’t know why I test this every single time like it’ll be different. Opaque black or just bare legs, nothing in between, that’s the rule now.
I’ll say the honest thing, this isn’t a skirt for everyone’s closet and I’d be lying if I said otherwise. If you sit cross legged at your desk all day or bike to work, the wrap will fight you, and you’ll lose. For me, at nine dollars and climbing toward sixty something cents a wear, it’s staying. That’s not a universal yes. That’s just my particular math working out.
