Wednesday morning kitchen window, looking out on red camellias and the nascence of a glorious day. The high is supposed to be nearly 80F --- is it possible that we were shivering in layers of wool only last weekend? I plan to spend as much of this day outdoors as I possibly can, given that I have a lot of writing to do.
It's Day 3 of my 9x9 capsule-wardrobe challenge: 9 pieces, 9 days.
What makes this challenge doable for me right now --- what made me even consider it --- is that it doesn't turn on wearing the same dress over and over for days in a row. I've done that, and can confirm that it too is doable, but I have no desire to repeat that kind of challenge. If anything, what I need is something to push me out of the rut of wearing one beloved item over and over (my Wool& Iris Blue Sierra is well on its way to being that one item right now).
No, what's good about this is that I can wear a rota of core items (in my case, dresses) in combination with each other. I was already wearing purple for Lent, so this was a way to create a focused little range of clothes that harmonize beautifully --- not necessarily with each other; I'm not sure I'd wear these dresses on top of each other, but with the same small range of accessories. So what I have are a spectrum of pleasing purples, with notes of soft pink, soft blue, and soft green, one beige/oatmeal for a pale neutral, and a shot of black for when I need more warmth and/or higher contrast. I can wear all these items in combination with various of my shoes, depending on the weather. All the dresses work fine on their own, but also with these layers.
Today I'll probably end up wearing my chosen dress by itself, but for the morning I have added a light extra layer.
Wearing:
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Smock Dress (S/M; modified to add waist ties and v-neck), bought August 2024, last worn March 6. Wears in 2025: 3
*Secondhand Chico's linen button shirt, bought January or February 2023. Entering a third year of wear. Originally a very pale sky blue, redyed with Rit Evening Blue, summer 2023
*Secondhand Birkenstock Rosemead clogs, third year of wear.
Again, when it comes to wear (unless you're trying to calculate cost-per-wear), it's less how many times than how many years. I'd like to be pulling all these dresses out with pleasure five or ten years from now.
Anyway, I really love this dress --- but then, when don't I say that? I don't think I own a dress I don't love. What I enjoy about this one, besides the soft, heavy washed linen, are the mods, which were probably made for the original owner: the v-neck instead of the normal Smock scoop neck, plus the ties that let you adjust the loose waist. Not that I don't like the loose Smock waistline perfectly well. More and more, I really prefer that kind of structured looseness to the A-line of the Wool& swing dresses. These are soft, forgiving shapes, skimming your body easily no matter what shape it's in, but with some beautiful tailoring and, again, some gentle structure that feels right to me. BUT it's nice to be able to adjust when I feel like it. Here, the ties are pretty loosely tied, but they do draw in the waist a little more than usual for extra fit-and-flare.
I also like the openness of the v-neck. I love the standard scoop neck that comes with this style --- it's wonderfully graceful without being too much skin. But this is a really nice alteration, which makes this dress work even better as a pinafore than the others do. It's nice to be able to see more of the shirt underneath, when I'm wearing a shirt underneath.
I also really like the soft blue of this linen shirt with the deep, rich purple. I've worn this shirt under this dress and loved the look --- I was going to do that today, but decided I'd rather have the option of going sleeveless later on. So I'll save that combo for another day. I've tried the shirt untied and tied --- right now it's still tied, but I don't necessarily have a preference. Again, though, I like the bit of definition that lets the skirt really show itself off.
Wet, clean hair --- I'll finish it off with the diffuser in a moment, but for now I'm letting it air-dry in the sun in my office window.
SLIGHTLY LATER:
Back from my dog walk with mostly dry hair, ready to settle into some work. It is indeed a thoroughly beautiful day outside --- I was warm in my linen top shirt, though at this writing I still have it on.
Here's a sunshiny shot of this same outfit for the challenge photo album:
I am trying to make that album slightly more interesting than my normal diet of bathroom-mirror selfies --- though the white bathroom does provide a nice plain backdrop with minimal distractions, so that whatever I'm wearing (for better or worse) shows up well and clearly. But I do wear my clothes out in the world, and here we are, doing just that.
Real life, with dog. That's me, all day every day.
Also, it's nice to make an all-secondhand outfit. No telling how many wears any of these items underwent before falling into my hands, but I hope to wear them all for years to come. The shirt was pretty cheap, to be honest --- in terms of what I paid for it, but also, frankly, in terms of its manufacture. The different in quality between the shirt fabric and the dress fabric is striking. Still . . . here I am, in a third season, wearing this shirt. If I take decent care of it, it'll see a fourth season, and more.
Or the house could burn down tonight, and it could all go up in smoke. You never know. Wear the clothes, enjoy the clothes, enjoy yourself in the clothes. It's all beautiful and good. But it's all part of this beautiful, good world that is passing away, as time turns us ever toward a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem. It's good to remember that. Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. A week later, the words still reverberate, as they should.