Sewing Is Like Chocolate...Highly Addictive: dresses

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Dresses a/k/a I love being a girl...er...well, woman ;o)

There was a conversation going on at Stitcher Guild http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/board,10.0.html about dresses. I think the coversation was triggered by the SWAP discussion, along with some very pretty dresses posted by a few members, including Liana and her drop dead gorgeous watercolor 2-piece dress. http://sewintriguing.blogspot.com/ This discussion forced me to think about why I, the ultimate girly-girl, rarely wear a dress or skirt. Actually, I hardly own any dresses and skirts and this makes me sad as I used to wear dresses every single day, only pulling out pants on very cold days or just for something different.

I think the demise of the dress & skirt (for me) actually came about at the same that fashion dictated "wearing nylons is the ultimate fashion no-no", with open toe shoes which had become acceptable for work, as well as play. Sadly, I started to wear fewer and fewer skirts and dresses. I have to say that the last time open toe shoes and dressy sandals were "in" (1970's - 1980's)we wore hose with them. No self-respecting girl/woman went without hose, especially at work!! I remember going through one pair every day as I would put my toes through them. OK, that part I hated, but this was a necessary evil. ;o) Why did things (fashion) have to be different this time??? Why was it suddenly a sin to wear hose with sandals???And, why didn't I simply thumb my nose at the world and wear them anyway??? Sigh....because I guess I too am chained to fashion and I wouldn't want to commit a huge faux pas and stick out like a sore thumb...so here I am..sans hose and hating it. Oh, I do wear them in the winter with pants or the rare skirt. At least the chains don't bind me in the winter. ;o) I do have toeless hose, but they hurt like heck and I end up almost bruised between my toes when I wear them.

I will stand up and proudly say that I *like* wearing nylons and I feel finished and polished, not to mention less jiggly in them. ;o) I struggled with self-tanner (hated the inconvenience and mess and smell). Then I gave up and just wore pants. Lets face it ladies, no matter how much we may profess to dislike nylons, many of us do not look our best without nylons, or at least some self-tanner. I work in a building with 1,000 people so I get to see quite a few young and older ladies in skirts, sans hosery, and I'm sorry, but much of it just isn't pretty.

My thoughts then turned to thinking about "why we sew"....well...you sew and I collect. ;o) It's so we can wear what we want and in many cases we are not slaves to the garbage...er...clothing at the mall. Soooo....I decided that I WILL WEAR HOSERY and I will wear it proudly, even in the summer as long as I have on closed shoes or shoes with very small peep-toes. For dresses & skirts worn with my pretty high-heeled sandals I will once again pull out the self-tanner and I will faithfully use it.

I must state that I have no objections to white legs in shorts, or casual skirts outside the work environment...hey, we are who we are. I have the whitest legs in the world. But, for my eyes, I just can't think someone looks their best when wearing a work skirt/dress (especially in the winter) and very white, bare, blotchy legs are sticking out from under the skirt. Someone (or many) reading this will probably disagree with me and that's OK. Again, that's why we sew (or collect) to do what we want. Anyone who proudly displays white legs then I say....You GO girl!!!! For this white-legged, blotchy legged gal you'll see hose or self-tanner on her gams. ;o)

These are some of my favorite dresses. I really do plan to make 1 or 2 this summer. I'd say more than that, but it will be a miracle if I get the 1-2 made. LOL!!!! These are only a tiny selection of the dresses I drool over.

Everyone's favorite Vogue 1048- I love Chado Ralph Rucci

Vogue 8491 - this pattern had me when I looked at the jacket