Jerusalem artichokes making their triumphal entry into another growing season. They're totally set to inherit the earth.
Mass starts 15 minutes early today, so this will be a quickie. I got up and worked on a poem this morning, and played my New York Times games (got the Wordle in 2 this morning, after just barely making it in six tries yesterday), and now I'm dressed and ready to walk the dog in a few minutes. It's still fairly cold out, just about 40F, so I'll need a coat, but by mid-afternoon the temperatures should be warmer and more pleasant --- and tomorrow will be warmer still, calloo callay.
Wearing:
*Wool& Audrey dress (S) in Black Heather, bought November 2022, last worn April 11. Wears in 2025: 10
*Old Thrifted Talbots cotton cardigan, originally dark brown, redyed by me in 2022. Maybe not quite entering a second decade of wear, but getting close, I think. I love the cutaway shape of this cardigan, which keeps it from looking too boxy over things, especially this long column of a dress. And just as I can wear this smudgy heathered black dress, where true black is too stark, so I can wear this wine/cranberry red, where I don't feel so good in really bright or brick reds. Often it's not that you can't wear a color, full stop --- you just have to find the right tones of that color for your own coloring.
*Secondhand Birkenstock Papillio wedge ankle-strap sandals, first year of wear
Yesterday I made myself an outfit plan for the week, which I'm glad I did, because it's going to be a busy one. Some quick notes on that plan:
*I will repeat this outfit on Good Friday, when the liturgical color is, again, red.
*I think I'll wear my beige/champagne linen-blend longline cardigan with my Marine Blue Fiona for the Chrism Mass on Tuesday (liturgical color: white), and then repeat that for Holy Thursday.
Otherwise, I've given myself a good many options for Easter Masses. And I've cycled in my resurrected tan linen Japanese pinafore for wear tomorrow.
Overthinking things here, so I don't have to overthink them in the moment. That's the way to go, if I want to get myself out of the house without a lot of angst.
And speaking of, I had better take the dog out of the house now, so that she can enjoy a longer rest in her crate while we're at Mass.
AFTERNOON UPDATE
Beautiful Mass to launch us into Holy Week. I came home and criss-crossed my palms behind the San Damiano crucifix in the kitchen.
Ate scrambled eggs and sourdough toast, drank some coffee, sat in the sun with Dora in the kitchen garden and made some headway on the libretto. This week is going to be busy with other things, for immediate deadlines, so I wanted to give myself time to play with that project today (NOT servile labor). I had the Agincourt Carol on the brain when I got up this morning, so have worked it into the second act, which begins with a choreographed battle scene, then David's triumphal entry into Jerusalem (yes, very MUCH supposed to make an audience think of Palm Sunday) with the Ark of the Covenant, and his dancing before it. Uriah's rapturous homecoming to Bathsheba, full of praise for his commander. He would give anything he has for the privilege of serving such a king . . . And so on.
Aaaaannnnnnnd . . .
Bear with me. My brain is stuck in dress mode. Sorry. Then again, that is what this blog is about, so I guess if you're reading it at all, my obsessive self-conversation about clothing is why you're here.
I think actually I might have made a decision about a new dress. I mean, I'm not pulling the trigger yet, and I am going to give it time to percolate, but hear me out.
It's not at all what I was thinking (but then, that's how it always goes).
It occurred to me, getting dressed this morning, that if there's anything I suddenly have a lot of, it's dresses I can wear to church. They're not strictly "church dresses," or "occasion dresses," and most of them are dresses I wear on an everyday basis --- but they are dresses that dress up well and appropriately for church. Some of them can dress up even for for special occasions, as needed.
These dresses are:
*Leila dresses (Chocolate Brown and Cinnamon Rose)
*Smock dresses (Dark Blue-Gray, Grape Wine, Emerald Green)
*Mama dress in Caffe Mocha
*silk April Cornell vintage maxi
*floral linen-cotton pinafore
*Black Heather Audrey
*Marine Blue Fiona
*Teal Fiona
I tend not to wear my Brooklyns to church so much anymore, since I do have longer options, but I have worn them to church and could again. I've also worn my Pacific Brooklyn to two weddings so far.
I can also wear linen tanks with my vintage April Cornell floral maxi skirt --- or a dress with that skirt over. I've worn my Maggie as a "top" with that skirt, and my Teal Fiona. Marine Blue would work well, So would Pacific Brooklyn. So, in fact, would my Iris Blue Sierra. All of these combinations would be further church-appropriate.
So one thing I DO NOT REALLY NEED is another church dress, or even another dress-up dress --- though I do like for a dress to have that possibility. But I have enough dresses to cover all the Sundays of the year handily in a loose rotation. With that one maxi, plus all my cardigans and everything else, I am set with so many choices that I almost don't have to repeat a church outfit more than 2-3 times in a calendar year. I mean, seasons do make a difference --- more scope for variation when you can wear layers --- but still.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the fact that I've now worn my new Iris Blue Sierra 18 times since January 2, when it arrived, gives me pause. What do I really want here (let's not even invoke the word need, because in fact I need nothing at all)? Yes, yes, all these swishy new dresses turn my head. They certainly do. But what if instead I had another default-mode dress? Another dress to hike in, lounge in, but also go out on the town in?
What if I bought a Silver Jade Sierra?
It's an awfully nice color, one I think I could wear well --- it looks pretty close to the color of my Connemara cardigan, which I adore. In fact, that might be one thing I could wear with it for a tonal effect. The light color would give summer vibes, but the fabric is lofty enough that it would be warm in the winter, and I think I have things to layer with it:
*Tights in Sand Dollar, Navy, Hot Chocolate, various grays, even Blood Red.
*Black footless tights, assuming they've held up enough for another year of wear
*Leggings in Navy or slate blue, and if I got some charcoal leggings, too, that would be kind of perfect
*Cardigans in cobalt, light blue, periwinkle, shades of pink, navy, cranberry red, aqua, teal, oatmeal/beige, maybe even magenta
*My moss-green corduroy blazer might make for some interesting color-crunching
*Tees/base layers in navy, pink, blues, teals, oatmeal, lavender
*Button shirts: purple linen, green tencel, evening blue linen
*Trades of Hope sillk-cotton kimono
*Pullovers in royal blue, teal, pink --- possibly even that green Anthropologie one I've worn for travel so much, though that seems iffy
*Blue floral maxi skirt --- so I could actually wear it to church if I needed to
*Pinafores, tan and floral
This style also looks pretty cute with all my walking and hiking shoes, as well as sandals and boots.
Here's a quick fashion show, including recent, warm spring days as well as winter layers:
But see what I mean about going with lots of things? And while this dress is short, a) I love the look with boots and tights, especially taller boots, and b) even worn alone, I don't think it's too short, especially given that I always wear bike shorts underneath, and I'm not wearing it to church all by itself.
So anyway . . . something is telling me . . . maybe don't branch out after all?
I will think on it. But what I'm thinking right now is how much I love my Iris Blue Sierra. It's relaxed enough at this point to fit well, and I don't think sizing down has meant that I've stressed the fabric significantly --- I mean, my original Sierra, one size up and definitely not too tight in any way, has sized itself up by several orders of magnitude over three and a half years of wear, which is honestly the one thing that gives me pause about buying another of this dress. I do keep wearing Sierras, though, so I must love them. And I won't dye another one. The fabric does give, but possibly being a little more delicate in washing and treating it will help it retain elasticity a little better than if I put it through the dye process. I like the thickness and sturdiness of the fabric day to day, and the way it's definitely not see-through (which seems to be a problem with many Wool& dresses at the moment, especially in lighter colors).
I think I would buy another XS. I like the way my secondhand S fits, but after three months of continuous wear, I believe I prefer the fit of the XS, which is more like the line of the princess-seamed dress I was looking at. It's very much like that dress (and I guess if I got an XS Long, I might get almost that exact length, too, but I don't think I will), except in the thicker, sturdier fabric.
This would be a great dress for summer, despite the heaviness of the fabric. I have worn a Sierra all through the summer and not died of heat stroke before --- sleevelessness makes a big difference in how hot I get, and the fabric does breathe well and wick moisture. It would be another good hiking dress, though the lighter color would show dirt a bit more. I'd just have to be good about spot-cleaning on my way out to dinner after a hike. It would be a superlative travel dress, too. The husband has just unveiled a plan to go to Nova Scotia in July (hooray, say I, for travel not involving jet lag), so Sierras would be perfect items in my travel capsule. I'm going to New Hampshire for a poetry conference in late August, so ditto. AND I'm going to Santa Fe in September: ditto again. I can take my maxi skirt rolled up in my pack to put on for church, with a light cardigan, or a warm one, depending on the time of year.
The other thing I consider is that I HAVE so many true summer dresses --- true summer in the sense that they're lightweight and not that warm even when you layer them. It's months away, and what's bearing down on us now is the summer heat, but I can recall the sensation I have every November or December, when suddenly, for the first time since the spring, there's a really cold day. All my clothes seem suddenly VERY COLD.
The good thing about a Sierra is that I can wear it all summer and be cool, but on that day I can reach for it and be warm. In December, January, and February (especially this winter just past!) I entertain the thought of buying something like an Eliza dress, which is the same fabric with long sleeves. But I don't want to spend all that money on a dress just to put it away for more than half the year. Better to spend it on a Sierra --- sleeveless in the fall, easy to add sleeves to via layering when the weather turns cold.
It's the last thing I thought I would consider. And I am still considering. I might change my mind. But the more I think about it, the more I think --- right now, anyway --- that this is what I want to do. Yes, that would be my last "new item" slot for 2025, but I think I'm okay with the idea.
Film at eleven, folks. Film at eleven.
Meanwhile, I am enjoying my Audrey today. I always do. And yeah, I'd still go for another. I did think about that "Geranium Heather" that's just released, but the pink doesn't seem quite like my shade, and people keep reporting that it's very see-through. No thanks --- that makes my thought process easier, anyway. I really wish they'd do this dress in the tencel fabric in something like Aegean Teal Heather, which would be gorgeous. That I would buy like a shot. I'd break all my own rules to buy that dress. Fortunately for me, it doesn't exist, so I don't have to break all my own rules, but I would. In the meantime, I love this dress, in all its smudgy charcoal simplicity. I've worn it continually since November of 2022, and I'll keep on wearing it until I can't wear it any more. And I'm grateful to have it --- grateful for all I have.
Now, as the afternoon gallops apace, I guess I had better consider what we might eat for supper . . .