Friends Don't Let Friends Wear Appliqued Vests

So I was going to make this post a Bad Decision Tuesday, because a) I figured we were due for one of those, and b) I found an awesome stash of pictures featuring my dinner-plate-sized glasses the other day, as well as another one I plan to turn into a photo essay soon entitled That Year I Dressed Like a Dude. But then I realized hey, who needs a Bad Decision Tuesday featuring terrible fashion choices from the past when I could just write a regular old blog post featuring terrible fashion choices from the party I just got home from fifteen minutes ago? 

Before you start questioning my sanity, my choice in friends, and whether or not I've been hitting the eggnog a little too hard lately, I should mention that this was an Ugly Holiday Sweater Party, in which all participants were invited to don their most hideous holiday finery and look terrible together. On purpose. Not actually having any hideous holiday finery (thank goodness), Sean and I hit the Goodwill the night before, where for the princely sum of $3.49, I found this awesome reindeer-patterned vest:

You may also notice Sean in the background there in his shiny Christmas tree tie, a tie so authentically awful that it came with its very own soup stain on the front---at least I hope it was soup---which I sort of thought was pretty much the best part. He looks like a really creepy geography teacher at an all-girls boarding school who still lives with his mother and plays World Of Warcraft in the evenings in his bedroom while eating tuna sandwiches with the crusts cut off and drinking milky tea. Uh, not to put too fine a point on it or anything. 

The mastermind behind this display of holiday cheer was my friend Kristin, who rented a room in a (normally) very chic bar in order to let us express ourselves through the medium of fashion. Since I'm leaving for Singapore tomorrow, and therefore missing all the holiday parties, I was super excited at the chance to at least attend one.  And in fact you could argue that I even attended it twice---or at least in two different outfits, because OH MY GOD, DID I MENTION MY VEST WAS REVERSIBLE? Oh yes, it was baby: reindeers on one side, weird Christmas-themed tassels on the other. I totally switched it inside out halfway through to get the best of both worlds. But then did you ever expect that I wouldn't?

(PS: I also got to meet one of my frequent commenters, which was super exciting for me! Of course, I'd rather not have done it while wearing the dorkiest vest known to man---especially since her holiday sweater was SUSPICIOUSLY UNDORKY, and in fact something extremely cute that I'd probably actually buy if I saw it on the rack at Old Navy---but still. Hi, Sensibly Sassy! Nice to have met you! I don't normally dress like this, I swear!)