Sitting in the dark of the morning of the new Christian year: fog and drizzle outside, candlelight in. We had a lovely dinner with our friends last night, and look forward to Mass later on. Today's post will be pretty brief, so that I can pay attention to the people around me while they're here.
Here's a poem, from my forthcoming book Among the Living, to mark the day.
And from Eleanor Parker, the "Clerk of Oxford," an Anglo-Saxon homily for the First Sunday in Advent.
Wearing:
*Wool& Brooklyn dress (small long) in Pacific
*Thrifted Eddie Bauer cotton cardigan (old, owned more than 5 years)
*Snag opaque tights in Rainy Day (appropriately)
*Thrifted Birkenstock Papillio clogs
*Kosher Casuals crop top in Aubergine (I think that's the color name)
*Old linen scarf (bought more than 5 years ago in local shop)
After three days' consideration, I'm thinking I'll resell the NPL dress . . . I tried it on again this morning and it just felt . . . not right somehow. It would look better on a taller person, and/or a person with a longer torso than mine. I want to love it, but it's actually making me feel anxious, for reasons I can't completely define. So I think someone else would enjoy it more. I won't buy another for now, just hang onto whatever I make and maybe reinvest in another linen dress for Easter. Meanwhile, my other two linen dresses --- the Japanese and floral pinafores --- do feel perfect and, for now, enough.
LATER:
Back from Mass, a tour of the Abbey campus, and lunch out with our friends. Everyone is currently engaging in Sunday-afternoon Sabbath rest.
I've been cutting off my head in my outfit photos for the last few days, for no particular reason except that I wanted to focus on the outfit, not how my hair looks or what my face is doing when I take the picture. I assure you that I do still have a head, and here it is. Still wearing what I wore out the door this morning, though I have changed from my Papillios into my comfortable Tari boots. Not that the Papillios aren't pretty comfortable as heeled shoes go, but it's nice to have my feet all on the flat again. Dora and I went for a short walk when we got home, and she barked at our company (yay, Dora, go team go), but now she's passed out on the sofa, and I'm feeling both excessively well fed and very comfy in the leather chair. Our friends are going out to dinner in three hours with some other friends, and I'm kind of glad we're not going, because I just don't think I could gin up any enthusiasm for another restaurant meal. My salad and my eggplant sandwich on focaccia were both very good, but you know, if there's anything I can't envision being for a long time, it's hungry.
I did re-list the NPL dress on Poshmark. After multiple try-ons, I've concluded that the fit's not quite right. I think I'm too short in the torso for the bodice. And I don't love the color enough to take it for alteration. I think I probably need one of the looser-waist dresses, something with a shape a little more akin to that of my floral pinafore. (OR this dress in a smaller size, and/or another color). It's a beautiful dress, though, and I hope that at the price I've posted (exactly what I paid, with discounted shipping), it will move fast. Again, a gorgeous dress with marvelous craftsmanship --- just not, after some consideration, the one for me. I really hated the thought of reselling it, because I'd been wanting one of their dresses, and the price was so right, but now that I've put it up again, I feel relieved.
Addendum: If nobody buys this dress, then I will take it to a tailor to be altered: mostly to have the shoulders taken in so that it fits a bit higher on my short torso, and the neckline isn't so deep. There's room to do this, I think, even though the armholes aren't as huge as they might be. BUT I hope somebody will buy it, and eventually, when I'm ready, I can start over with a different style.
So now I'm going to kick back a bit, read, maybe doze off in my chair . . .