Two Reasons to Love dELiA*s

In high school, I worked at my family's catering company and made serious bank (or what equates to bank for a 17-year-old with no financial responsibilities), but I squandered most of it on gas, fast food lunches, and the occasional trip to Target. Without any money management skills, I was left to simply covet most everything I wanted, including dozens of items (or was it hundreds?) that I saw in my quarterly dELiA*s catalogs. I eventually learned how to save my pennies and ended up paying for my first year of college, grocery trips and all. Supposedly, eating is more important that getting pretty clothes. Supposedly. So I guess I made the right choice.

And now, I'm an adult, and while dELiA*s is still around (online and in catalog form), I feel a little silly at the idea being a 23-year-old woman who buys clothes made for the tween and teen set, even if my body shape hasn't changed significantly since the 9th Grade (which it hasn't, by the way). I might just have to get over my hesitation, though, because LOOK:

 Piper Tweed Short (currently $34.50)

I absolutely LOVE the look of tweed shorts over tights or leggings. It's funky, somehow dressed-up yet also really flirtatious and carefree. Finding tweed pants at the thrift store, ones that are ready to become shorts with a few snips of the scissors, shouldn't be that tough -- at least not in theory. In reality, I've found this mission hard to accomplish and figured I might as well take a quick look online to see if there were any good pairs available. I found a nice-looking and reasonably-priced pair at Nordstrom's, of all places, but they are currently sold out. Most of the other options were not happening. $85 at Neiman Marcus? $98 from Sundance Catalog? $130 at Bergdorf Goodman? $437 at Bluefly (and that's supposedly 44% off retail)? People, get real.

The tweed shorts from dELiA*s (that name is getting so hard to type!) really strike my fancy, partly because (1) they have pockets and (2) the elastic waistband would probably be really comfortable, but it's cleverly implemented to look like color-blocking on the waist of the shorts, so it's still fashionable. $34.50 is still more than I'd typically pay, but that's because I'm cheap and not because it's an outrageous amount. These seem like a really good purchase.

***Psst: if you like the look of tweed shorts over tights, but the dELiA*s option is not quite your style or sold out in your size, there are some other inexpensive options.

Sparkle & Fade Tweed Paperbag Trouser Short - Urban Outfitters, on sale for $29.99
Black & White Tweed Shorts - Unique Vintage, on sale for $22.00
Black and White Tweed Shorts - Next, currently $48.00
Sanctuary Tweedy Shorts - Free People, on sale for $49.95
BDG Baggy Tweed Short - Urban Outfitters, on sale for $29.99

Okay, one more reason to love dELiA*s (and this one might just be peculiar to me):

Eva Girlfriend Cardigan (on sale for $29.50)

Is anyone else mildly bugged by the "boyfriend cardigan" or "boyfriend jeans" idea? I get that retail executives need to give names to the clothes they sell, but what if I don't have a boyfriend? What if I have a husband, or I'm single, or I date girls instead of boys, or what if I just want to buy the jeans I like without the implication that I borrowed them from a dude? This isn't a really big deal to me (like I said, I'm only mildly bugged), but I have to say that my little heart got pretty glad when I saw that this sweater was named the "Eva Girlfriend Cardigan"; it feels a little tongue-in-cheek, a little subversive, and I'm a fan of that. Go dELiA*s. Oh, and it's also a good-lookin' sweater, so that's nice (because you can't go around wearing an ugly sweater just because you like its name -- that would be silly). You can get it in this nice cardinal color, basic gray, or a festive green.

So, girlfriend, take your cardigan and your short-shorts and have yourself a party. That's what I'd do.