Summer Wardrobe: Dressin' Up
I like dresses. I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to the dreamy kind of dresses I'll probably never wear in my lifetime. I had a favorite dress as a little girl and when I couldn't possibly fit into it anymore, my mom had to draw it for me so I could keep the picture forever. Or until I became a minimalist, but back then, it comforted me to have a part of it around. It had sheer sleeves and ribbons and ruffles and of course, it was pink.
Fast forward almost thirty years and I still love dresses. For this little endeavor, I narrowed it down to four, if you don't count my 4th of July dress and one I only wear to weddings. I justify my dress habit with the fact that we show up at church almost every weekend and I think it's some sort of celebration/special occasion. I love old fifties paintings of the little white church with the steeple and the sweet families walking up to it in their hats and gloves and handbags. I know this doesn't make or break the experience and Jesus loves me in my running shorts, but I like this part of church. Is it a hassle sometimes? Oh, yes. Especially with kids, but since we can come whether we got all gussied up or not makes it a fun bonus, rather than an added stress.
Anyway, my point was, I do wear these dresses and I prefer not to repeat in a month, so I think a rotation of four is wonderful. Also, if I'm not in a dress mood or only shaved the bottom half of my legs, I have a pair of black crop pants I put with something like my green blouse and heels.
Enough justifying. Here are my four.
This dress's wild colors and stripes caught my eye as I was headed to the home goods part of a Goodwill. I was in no mood to try on, but the chance of having a gorgeous dress for 4.99 motivated me. And it fit perfectly. Now this is a perfect example of a dress that we'd have no idea what shoes to put with it before the nude shoe revolution! I probably would've gone brown back in the day, but that gives it a fall feel. With my nude shoes, I feel summery and modern. And taller. The illusion is my legs just keep going. At least that's what they say. This belt is also a Goodwill find that I wear constantly in the fall. It fits around my high waist, and that's something I have a hard time finding because my rib cage is small.
I don't know if you've ever visited Young House Love, but it's done by a couple who like to do house projects. The wife Sherry jokes about how often she's wearing a ponytail in the photos and she seems pretty low maintenance. But she doesn't look that way and you know why? She wears largish oval earrings that are simple, but their mere size makes her look glamorous instantly. "Well, hey!" I thought. "I could do that!" But it wasn't as easy as I expected to find these large earrings. Most of them were just a little small and the bigger ones were expensive.
Then my friend had a Stella and Dot party where the above beauties presented themselves. It was a splurge, but I loved how smooth and flat they were. I hadn't seen anything else like them. And my friend was having a party and who was I to be a party pooper? A few days later, a sweet little package came in the mail. When I opened part of it, it read, "Hello, gorgeous," and I have to say, I felt pretty special. I have a thing for opening things that are gift-wrapped. I don't know where it comes from, but I never feel more thought of than when opening a pretty package. I get tingles; it's crazy.
And last of all, my lacey sundress. The locket was a gift from Brian on my first mother's day. If I could only keep one necklace, this would be it. Besides my wedding ring, it's my most sentimental piece of jewelry. The large ring above is not my wedding ring, however. I wear it on the opposite ring finger quite often. It was bought for me by a complete stranger at a Women's Expo with the only request being to pass on the kindness. So it's my "Pass it On" ring. I don't know when I've been so surprised. The lady's name was Maurine.
Total dressy pieces: 14
Total casual pieces: 38
Grand Total: 52
My inspiration for this project is Courtney Carver, who gets down to 33 pieces each season. I'm not ready for that yet, but maybe someday...Happy weekend everyone and come back for an unusual Make Your Monday. I'll be sharing my secret for preventing chafing thighs when wearing summer skirts. If you have a two inch gap between your legs, still come back because you probably know a poor soul who can't get through a sweaty day in a skirt! It's a life-changer.
Fast forward almost thirty years and I still love dresses. For this little endeavor, I narrowed it down to four, if you don't count my 4th of July dress and one I only wear to weddings. I justify my dress habit with the fact that we show up at church almost every weekend and I think it's some sort of celebration/special occasion. I love old fifties paintings of the little white church with the steeple and the sweet families walking up to it in their hats and gloves and handbags. I know this doesn't make or break the experience and Jesus loves me in my running shorts, but I like this part of church. Is it a hassle sometimes? Oh, yes. Especially with kids, but since we can come whether we got all gussied up or not makes it a fun bonus, rather than an added stress.
Anyway, my point was, I do wear these dresses and I prefer not to repeat in a month, so I think a rotation of four is wonderful. Also, if I'm not in a dress mood or only shaved the bottom half of my legs, I have a pair of black crop pants I put with something like my green blouse and heels.
Enough justifying. Here are my four.
This is actually a dress, though it looks like a blouse and skirt. I'd been after a high-waisted navy skirt and was having no luck. Then I visited that Ross in California and saw this for 14.99. It was like getting two for less than one! This watch is the same one I wore all winter. It's from Francesca's and what I love about the rubber wristband is how it doesn't slide around and even though this one was really big on my wrist, I could punch a new hole with my paper piercer. Then I had a lot of band flopping, which I trimmed with scissors. You can see in the photo I didn't get it very even, but no one scrutinizes it on the inside of my wrist. It's nice to have a custom fit without visiting a jewler!
Then my friend had a Stella and Dot party where the above beauties presented themselves. It was a splurge, but I loved how smooth and flat they were. I hadn't seen anything else like them. And my friend was having a party and who was I to be a party pooper? A few days later, a sweet little package came in the mail. When I opened part of it, it read, "Hello, gorgeous," and I have to say, I felt pretty special. I have a thing for opening things that are gift-wrapped. I don't know where it comes from, but I never feel more thought of than when opening a pretty package. I get tingles; it's crazy.
Total dressy pieces: 14
Total casual pieces: 38
Grand Total: 52
My inspiration for this project is Courtney Carver, who gets down to 33 pieces each season. I'm not ready for that yet, but maybe someday...Happy weekend everyone and come back for an unusual Make Your Monday. I'll be sharing my secret for preventing chafing thighs when wearing summer skirts. If you have a two inch gap between your legs, still come back because you probably know a poor soul who can't get through a sweaty day in a skirt! It's a life-changer.
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