The irony is that my mother really wanted to dress me up as a little
girl. I remember big hair bows:
Yes, like that hair bow on the left. Okay, maybe not quite as big...but big. And centered on top of my head with an attached comb the felt like it was digging into my brain. And I had so little hair (even then...super-fine hair and not much of it) that the bows were always sliding off.
I also remember the girliest of girly dresses:
Oh yeah. she loved to put that kind of ruffly, lacy, frilly
garb on me. With white stockings and shiny patent Mary Janes. I think the look on this girl's face pretty much sums it up. :)
It didn't get much better when I got older. Mom did acquiesce to my wearing pants to school...but I started grade school in the 1970s. Plaid was in. Plaid polyester pants. Not the kind of polyester we have today...oh, no. Scratchy like a kitchen scrubbie. And she had me wear starchy-stiff button-down shirts. It was like I went from the girliest girl to the boy-iest boy. At least they were colorful...but remarkably uncomfortable.
I spent the first few years of my life being rather unhappy in almost everything I can remember wearing. My husband always says that he knows anything I buy (for him or for me) will be soft and comfortable to wear. It's a leftover thing from the clothes of my childhood. :)
Anyway, I was a tomboy for a long, long time. I lived in jeans, kicks (though we called them sneakers in those days), tee shirts. I didn't wear anything super-feminine in grade school or high school - can't even remember wearing a skirt or dress, except for things like homecoming dances or proms.
But in my early twenties, I got a retail job - after the one at Sears - at Dillard's. And Dillard's dress code specifically did NOT allow women to wear pants. Skirts and dresses only - and you had to wear hosiery.This was in the early nineties, and while people still dressed up like it was the eighties, grunge was moving in. A shift to casual clothing was occurring...but not at Dillard's. It didn't matter what your job was, if you were a woman you could not wear pants to work. For several years, I sold shoes. Imagine climbing the ladders to the top shelves in the shoe stockroom for the right size, or bending down to put a shoe on someone's foot...I wore a lot of LONG skirts and dresses.
But I did begin to appreciate the beauty (and ease) of dresses. Not the scratchy, tulle-y kind. No flounces, no petticoats. Like everything else I love, my preferred dress style is simple. Clean. Modern. Ann Taylor sheath-dress style. Or J. Crew, if you prefer.
This one happens to be from
ModCloth, but it's exactly what I mean: cute cut, form-fitting, easy to wear, allows for fun accessories. That's always been more my style, and now that I work a lot of art festivals in the spring and summer months, I'm constantly hunting for dresses that will pack easily, not wrinkle, and withstand the long, often-hot-and-sweaty work days. In recent years, my secret go-to has been
J C Penney. I don't shop for anything else there, but I do look for dresses in the spring. They usually have a few standouts at amazingly low prices.
I found several online that looked promising, but had no luck finding any of them in the one JCP store anywhere near me, so I ordered this:
also in red (if it works, why not?):
and this:
which may be a bit too pink...or too dressy...but I won't know for sure until it gets here. The fabric and shape look perfect for art shows.
And one more:
This one may also be too dressy for work, but it's worth a shot. The blue and red dresses were $30 each, and the animal (?) print is $30. The most expensive one is the pink at $60. I ordered all of them in two sizes to see which fits best, so a big ol' box of dresses should be coming to the house in the near future. :)
I almost ordered this:
I know, tiny photo...it's all I could find. Loved this floral print - so happy! - and I actually tried this one on in-store. It fit well and didn't feel
cheap, but something wasn't quite right. I think it's the white background - I look better in a beige than pure white - and I already have a
very bright floral dress. so I let this one go.
I am, however, considering
this:
Not for work, though. I mean, I can't help myself. That colorful sh*t makes me happy. :)
I'll update once the new dresses arrive...hopefully by month-end. J C Penney has disappointingly slow shipping...
Update: my order FINALLY arrived yesterday, and I promptly tried them on. My thoughts:
- The Joe Fresh dress(es) (blue and red - which is actually fuchsia pink) are fairly thin fabric but drape well. I hate the self-belt and will keep one if I can find a wider leather belt to put with it. They don't look right worn without any belt at all. I'm leaning more toward the blue so I may send the pink back. Also, the dresses hit a bit higher on the leg than the model shot shows.
- The pink eyelet-y dress is
very pink. At first, I was a little, "Whoa!" but actually it the color grew on me. Unfortunately, the smaller size was too tight in the chest / shoulders, and the larger size was too big in the waist. I considered alterations, but the dress lining was already drooping out from under the hem. Too cheaply made; it's going back.
The leopard-y print dress was surprisingly adorable on. It's a little dressy for festivals, but I think it may have to have a place in my closet anyway. ;)
