Dress, RACHEL Rachel Roy (thrifted); top, J. Crew; shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, Longchamps
Why, yes – I am determined to wear this J. Crew sweatshirt with EVERY. Single. Damn. Thing in my closet. I hope that’s cool with you. This iteration was one of my fave vacation OOTDs; paired with a thrifted Rachel Roy bird-print dress, it was perfect for one of the chillier days we got in Vancouver. For the most part, it was hot and sunny (the only upside of the terrible drought), so the dress turned out to be a smart buy – it’s light and airy on its own, but layers very well. I rock the whole travel capsule thing when I put the least amount of effort into it. There is a moral in that, I’m sure.
Dress, Anthropologie (thrifted); top, J. Crew; shoes, Old Navy; bag, Longchamps
I thrifted this Meadow Rue dress … thingie right before my vacation to Vancouver, so I had to bring it with me, of course. Wait to wear a new frock? Pshaw! Besides, it’s perfect for kid-wrangling. The linen blend fabric is pretty much indestructible (it survived a close encounter with peanut butter – long and not terribly entertaining story) and those ginormous pockets are perfect for carrying all sorts of vacation ephemera. I can probably smuggle a ferret or other small furry animal in there. Not that I want to, or have needed to. Thankfully. Yet.
the new potato sack of glory?got potato sack, will travel
Potato sack dresses are not the height of style, especially when they’re a size or two too big, but comfort is also never overrated in my books. For $10, this dress delivers all the potato sack-y comfort and then some.
my, what big pockets you’ve got there …
This dress is also pretty versatile, in the sense that it goes well with a lot of different tops. Here’s another way that I wore it in Van (and a peek at the cute cross strap detail in the back):
top, H&M; shoes, J. Crew Factory; necklace, J. Crew
Dress, RACHEL Rachel Roy; shoes, Steve Madden; bag, MbMJ (all via consignment)
This is one of my fave dresses, and you are not surprised because I think we have agreed that I am the queen of dresses that look like separates and vice versa. I wore it again, after too long of a break, for my birthday dinner and it did not disappoint. It is just so darn pretty. And pretty comfortable too, especially now that I have a bit more wiggle room in it.
pretty dress is still prettyaction shot!
Speaking of which, I was a bit surprised when I dug out the photo of the last time I wore this dress, almost exactly one year ago. I honestly didn’t think my body had changed quite so visibly in the last six months or so, so this side by side was a bit of an eye-opener. Funnily enough, I see the biggest difference in my face. I am reminded of the saying attributed (if I remember correctly) to the great Catherine Deneuve: after a certain age, women have to chose between their face and their ass. She spoke, of course, in an era before injectables. And I won’t lie: I have a different perspective on Botox now than I did at 25. (Which is to say, I have been thinking about it.)
August 2014 / August 2015
In case you couldn’t tell, issues of age and self-image have been on my mind more than usual lately, which I fully attribute to this damn birthday. 35 has hit me in a way that 30 never did, and I’m still working on figuring out why. Anyone else out there who’s felt/feeling the same?
