It was 3pm on a Wednesday, and I found myself in a Plato's Closet dressing room trying on outfit after outfit comprised of clothing that was nowhere near covering enough for me to be comfortable in, despite none of it being any sort of undergarment. Crop tops and daisy dukes lined the floor-length rack inside the dressing room, while my secure and comfortable jeans and D.Va hoodie lie in a pile on the floor. This is for my job, I reminded myself every time I opened the door to get my friend, Shadow's, approval on tit perkiness, midriff un-coveredness, and percentage of exposed under-ass. I can't believe this is for my job!

After Tuesday's stream, I realized that I HAD to buckle down and start being sexy, no matter what. And that, of course, had to start with sexier clothing. Sure, I felt a lot cuter in my jeans since I started exercising, and of course a button down shirt could be extremely flirtatious, but these men wanna see skin! After moving across the country and chucking most of my clothes away, I wasn't left with much. So after a rough start to our Wednesday morning due to lack of sleep and hours in the day, Shadow and I elected to get some fro-yo and go shopping.

I was raised on garage sales and thrifting; not just because I was too poor to afford mall-quality clothes (which I was), but because it was something my mom and I would always did together. If she got a little extra that paycheck, we'd spend a Sunday hopping from Goodwill to Goodwill across the city, looking for a good find. Luckily for this career path, my thrifty upbringing was a blessing. My original plan was to do what my mom and I always did: search every Goodwill within a thirty mile radius for some booty shorts and tight tank tops. But as we were on our way to our first stop, Shadow urged that I try Plato's Closet instead. I had never had much luck at places like that, mostly because even $10 for a pair of pants was too much for me to spend. But Shadow insisted that it would be a worthwhile investment, both in time and money.

As soon as we walked in the doors we made a beeline for the shorts. I tried to point out soft, flowery shorts that I liked, but for every pair I held up, Shadow pushed them aside and held up two pairs of shorts next to a devilish grin. Every pair I ended up trying on had legs shorter than the crotch, and all I could think about was what my mom would say if I showed those to her. It made me homesick, but in a funny sort of way. After scouring the shorts for about ten minutes, we walked to the dressing rooms with over a dozen pairs of shorts between us. The dressing room attendant seemed unfazed by our arms full of items as he told us I could only take six in at a time. I picked a random six pairs and made Shadow sit outside the room with the rest.

I've always been between sizes in pants, and the weight I recently lost definitely wasn't helping me in sizing. The first four pairs I tried on either wouldn't go up past my thighs, or wouldn't stay up at my waist. Another lucky aspect of my thrifty background: I knew that you had to try on just about every piece of clothing in the store if you wanted to come out with more than one good find. So I wasn't discouraged yet. Every pair that vaguely fit, I showed Shadow. Shadow had me do a slow spin to check all the real estate: does it fit my hips okay, how do my thighs look, does it fit in a way I can show off my almost-existent ass? I only ever opened the door enough to just show Shadow, who I made come close to the door so nobody could see me. After an hour of not-quite-embarrassing near misses with public nudity, we ended up with a few pairs and moved onto shirts.

I use the term "shirt" loosely here, because if it's going to be called just a shirt, it should have sleeves or at least cover your whole torso. Like a sandal: yes, a sandal is a shoe, but the amount of area they cover kind of puts them in their own area. Unfortunately, shopping for crop tops was not as easy as shopping for sandals (well, maybe about as easy as it would be at Plato's Closet; I couldn't figure out how their shoes were organized if my life was at stake). We ended up having to flip through all the tank tops, but came away with plenty of options. Shadow was kind enough to hold nearly everything we found so I could keep searching. And of course I got plenty of input on the shirts too (which mostly consisted of mocking every flowery shirt I held up, exactly like the shorts).

We walked back to the dressing room with about 20 shirts, which continued to get tangled together because of the spaghetti straps and cheap plastic hangers. I let Shadow wrestle with that mess while I went in to change. The shirts were the real challenge, because not only did they have to fit and be alluring and sexy and cute, but they also had to keep my tits perky enough without a bra to be sexy. This part was the worst: Shadow had me open the door every time again, but half the time I wasn't wearing a bra and we were debating if the shirts showed enough nippage. I think there was a mother and her teenage son somewhere behind Shadow; I prayed they couldn't see me bounce up and down in these tiny shirts that barely covered my ribcage.

By the time we had a few outfits picked out and had narrowed it down, we had only spent about $60 for about ten articles of clothing. That still seemed like a bit much to me, but Shadow insisted that the tips I made form these outfits would more than pay for it. I took Shadow's word for it, and started Wednesday's show in a low-cut tank top and no bra. After about half an hour of no action and uncomfotable seating, I moved from my chair to my bed, and swapped the shirt out for a cute bra I had only worn one other time. My "friend" Mike was also there to give me hand in loosening up enough to show my body and dance a little bit to my background music. All my regulars from the previous night told me how I looked so much more like a real cam model and was doing great! Eventually a couple big spenders got all my clothes off and got my token goal down to zero. It was an hour until I typically ended the show, but I had actually reached orgasm and simply didn't have enough energy to be flirtatious anymore. I tried a new tactic of "as long as the tips keep coming in, I keep masturbating and keep my clothes off." That for sure got me a lot more tips than I had expected. I ended the night early, with twice the money I had hoped to get and in less time than I had anticipated. Whether it was Mike's doing, the clothes making me feel sexy, or me breaking through my own mental barriers and embracing who I had to be for this to work, I think I really hit a turning point last night. Knock on wood, I'm about ready to start my show tonight (on Stripchat.com, find me @ValorieVox if you're interested!), so let's hope I didn't jinx it!

Career Investment or Personal Splurge? - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MODERN CAMGIRL