Sunday-morning four-o'-clocks and lambs'-ears.
I've been up and out to walk the dog in a default swing dress, but here's my official Mass outfit for today, as we settle into this last full week of the July 4/3 Challenge:
This is another non-default outfit, the second of my three non-default slots for the week, featuring a dress I really should reach for more often. This vintage 90s linen Liz Claiborne maxi dress was an Ebay purchase for Easter 2021, and although I don't wear it all that regularly, I love it. I love the peachy pink, the cool linen, the whole garden-party feel. It's a little big in the bodice, and I still haven't gotten around to having it altered, so I always wear it with something up top to hide the extra fullness under my arms --- though the belt also helps to make the blousiness look intentional.
After dissecting yesterday's rather blah ensemble, I felt primed to make today's outfit work, especially as I do happen to be going somewhere. Not that the monks care how I look, but you know: going to God's house, and so on. Anyway, here's what I think works about this outfit:
*The Rule of Three. I'm not bisected right across the middle. Instead, the combination of elements definitely has a 1/3:2/3 ratio going on: a higher waist, defined by both my dark belt and my shrug-length cardigan, with a longer sweep of skirt. Maxis are tricky on me, since I'm neither tall nor willowy and can easily look swallowed in fabric, but here I think the effect is lengthening.
*The color combinations. Blue and pink work together. They just do. I look so good in blue largely because I have pink-toned skin --- the colors highlight each other in the best possible way. Here I wanted to keep to a consistent blue-pink scheme without being matchy. I really like the lighter blue of the cardigan, with the dark contrast that the blue Birks provide against my lowest hemline.
*The mix of moods. This is a standard 90s kind of dress, inspired I imagine by all the Merchant-Ivory films and period television dramas of the time. Everybody wanted to look like an English garden party. Today I did not want to look too much like an English garden party, even though I keep reaching for that exact phrase to describe the vibe of this dress. One of the best things the 90s grunge movement did was mix up elements in striking ways: a dress like this with Doc Martens, for example. I didn't quite want to wear Docs (though in the winter I would), but I thought that in addition to being a good color, the Birkenstocks in their earthy casualness would balance the costume-y inclination of the dress. Ditto the braided leather belt. With a floaty fantasy kind of dress, a little rough-hewn note helps to ground things.
*I feel very much MYSELF: not fussy, not flashy, just fresh, natural, understated without being invisible. The energy here is pretty fluid, even though woven linen isn't really a flowy fabric in the same way that knits are. It's muted but not colorless. It's calm and quiet and peaceful --- and I need some peace! It's vintage-y but not a costume, channeling a mood instead of a movie set. Anyway, it's an outfit that makes me feel good as me.
Yeah. I like this a lot. The dress is kind of sheer, so underneath I'm wearing my bamboo slip --- it's short, but it covers what it needs to cover, and I thought it might be a better choice than my longer cotton slip, which is both heavy and not at all moisture-wicking.
I also hadn't worn my blue glass beads in a while. I love the color with the dress --- really, I love the color anywhere --- and they work well with this neckline, I think. I love the neckline, too, the little loop-and-button detail.
Most of the wave has fallen out of my hair overnight. It really is too long and needs cutting, so I think I'll put that at the top of tomorrow's agenda. But it's nice enough in a half-updo today.
I'm still feeling eaten alive by this mistake in the anthology and am actively taking comfort in getting dressed and not feeling like a loser. I didn't think I'd sleep last night; by the grace of God I did, and physically I feel a lot better today, which always helps my mental health.
On the other hand, I think I've had a tiny breakthrough in this hexameter poem I've been writing --- seems it's a lot better if I cut out all the odd-numbered stanzas and leave the evens. Whoda thunk . . .
I hear water running in the bathroom --- guessing we'll be out the door in half an hour. Well: I'm ready. For anything.
AFTER MASS:
Beautiful Mass, excellent homily on our need for prayer, fun running into a former student of my husband's --- and Latin-class friend of my oldest daughter's when she was a dual-enrollment student --- who's finished his Ph.D and come back to teach in the Honors College. Ten years have not aged him, and it's great when these children come home from far afield.
