In the fall of my junior year of college my roommate and I decided that we wanted to have an adventure.
We found a pair of cheap tickets to Grand Cayman Island, and asked a British scuba instructor whom I’d briefly dated if he wouldn’t mind if we stayed with him and his roommates for a few days. Fun, right? Well, as it turned out, something had very majorly been lost in translation during our phone conversations to plan the trip, because when we arrived we discovered that British Scuba Instructor was very seriously not interested in me, in having two girls staying with him for a few days, or in speaking or smiling. Ever.
Now, that would ordinarily be the kind of situation where one goes and finds a hotel room, but the plane tickets had pretty much tapped us out, so we just figured we’d stay out of his way and hang out on the beach as much as possible. Except it then poured rain almost the entire time we were there, making that a little tricky. Oh yes, and it was freezing.
So it wasn’t the best vacation I’ve ever had. Except for one night, when one of the scuba instructor’s roommates took pity on the sad, damp American girls and took us with her to some kind of annual Pirate festival. I put a bandanna on my head and long striped socks with the feet cut out of them on my arms (because that seemed pirate-y), and we ignored the rain and ran around the streets laughing for a few hours, forgetting about the scuba guy and school and everything, really. We went back to reality a couple of days later…but for that one night, forgetting was nice.
Want to see the shirt I picked for my pirate-wear?
This one.
It’s not exactly a pirate shirt…well, at all. But it’s…blousy? And has a ragged hem, so it was the closest thing I had. I bought it at the Salvation Army in high school, and it’s teetered over to the “Donate” pile nearly every year before being rescued by me at the last minute because it’s comfortable, and because some things you should keep even if you don’t wear them all that much.
Speaking of thrift-store finds: I picked up this beaded belt in Cape Cod last weekend at the same church sale where I found this necklace. Kind of amazing little discoveries, right?
On me: Vintage beaded belt; Ancient pirate-y shirt; Sandals c/o Clarks; Striped shirt via T.J.Maxx; Paige Denim jeans DIY-ed into cutoffs; GANT Paula sunglasses; Alexandra Satine tote; Alexander McQueen bangle; Courtesan Studio red bracelet.
