Peonies! Wood iris! The most wonderful time of the year, even if it is raining again.
It's Sunday, the last day of April --- on to the May flowers, thanks very much. Day after tomorrow, my baby children come home from Rome, albeit for a really brief space, since they're both going to Dallas almost immediately to see friends graduate. Still, I am over the moon at the prospect of seeing them.
Wearing today, meanwhile:
Turns out that sweet Willow is the last of my wool dresses to move into the 6-wears slot for April, to tie with Audrey, Maggie, and Sierra. Camellia and Fiona both received 5 wears this month. This is noteworthy largely because it indicates to me that my wardrobe is working for me: it's not a large wardrobe, based on six dresses, yet I have something to wear every day, for every occasion, without having to panic about being appropriately dressed --- and nothing I own, at least in terms of large, multi-seasonal pieces, is going unworn. I have been making more of an effort to wear my "around the sides" items, shirts and skirts, to justify my having them. Really, though, I think the fact that I like these secondary wardrobe pieces and wear them at all justifies their presence in my closet --- they are what give me flexibility, day to day, occasion to occasion, so that my core pieces can work harder.
For example: I don't wear this thrifted 90s-vintage April Cornell skirt all the time. It's rayon crepe, for one thing, which makes it feel a little fragile. But I love the colors, I love the shape, I love the length and sweep. I especially love that I can put on any of a rotation of dresses with it --- Camellia, Maggie, or Willow --- and make an outfit in which the dress, an item I wear all the time, becomes something completely new and different.
Repeating my thrifted cardigan from last night, too. I got a compliment on it from a stranger as I was coming out of the play --- "I love your sweater!" --- and as it was still lying out on the hamper where I'd left it last night, I put it on again. It makes an interesting pattern clash with my skirt, while echoing the deeper periwinkle of my dress, a color I continue to adore. The cardigan has developed a hole under one arm which I really need to repair --- it's not that obvious, thanks to the open crochet pattern, but I know it's there, and I need to do something about it before it gets worse.
These strappy Xero sandals are the best, too. They're perfect to wear in the rain, since water can't hurt them, and I love the light contrast with my lowest hemline. There's some off-white in the skirt's floral pattern, but nothing that exactly matches my shoes. So the whole outfit has these pleasing tonal resonances, without being too coordinated or matchy, which is boring.
So I'm ready for Mass, though I still need to walk the dog first. When I get home, I might well shed the skirt for the afternoon, but that's another great benefit to this outfit: it can go from church to comfy, and all I have to do is take off something.
Spent some time this morning in a chat conversation with a friend having a very hard time --- if you see this and are a praying person, please pray for this friend, who is in a difficult situation.
And off we go.
LATER:
As I was saying, after Mass you just shim-may off the maxi skirt, and there you are in your comfy little dress for the afternoon.
Totally different look, and all I did was this one weird trick.
So . . . tomorrow is the first of May. I wonder . . . what if I wore blue every day? (I wonder . . . do I ever not wear blue every day?).