I saw these at Dots on Little River Turnpike in Alexandria today and had to take a photo. I documented the hooks to prove they are not really bangles. Seriously, who is wearing these things!?

Today I went shopping in Lincolnia, the nondescript yet eclectic stretch of Little River Turnpike in Alexandria. I like shopping at cheap ethnic clothing stores there and I haven’t been in Fashion la Fama in about a year. Previously, it had typical low quality and unimpressive clothing. Now it is under new Chinese ownership and the new people have brought in some fun wardrobe pieces with funky mannequin ensembles. I like it even if I am too old for most of the stuff. The clothing is cheap overall but higher priced for the area tops are around $16 and jeans for about $25. However, these are unique items and they also have dressed and other stuff. Their sale is pretty good. I bought one of those long underwear type of texture long sleeved shirts in charcoal grey with a cute argyle print for $5.

I also looked at their rings which are kooky and great. I love giant rings and they also have size 6, which is the largest size I can wear (tiny fingers). I love snake themed accessories for some reason – even though I feel like I shouldn’t. They had these awesome Cuban zirconia encrusted snake rings that reminded me of Hidalgo rings (which I love!) but they were $36. So, I ended up splurging on this funky snake ring in faux silver and CZs. I like how it wraps around and is so unusual…even though I know I probably should be giving up my love of snake jewelry…I will still be wearing it this winter. At $7.50 I can experiment.

I have noticed a zipper trend this season and I am really excited about it. I saw it at both Urban Outfitters and Forever 21. Really easy to duplicate with a $2 brass zipper. They simply pulled the zipper apart and sewed the cloth (non zippered side) down to the shirt. Urban Outfitters’ has zippers all around the collar but Forever 21 has their zipper spirals on one side. This vindicates the neatness of the zipper necklace I made http://www.retoldstory.com/detail-necklaces.php?ItemID=28.

The shirts are both around $20 at both stores at Tysons since Urban Outfitters has them on sale. They also have zipper head bands.