I mean … right? “Technicolor” is the best way to describe this, I think. It’s a perfect summer dress for me because (a) it’s some type of rayon jersey, so it feels nice against the skin in hot weather, (b) it’s comfy and flattering, and (c) it’s a colourful print. Pick a colour, any colour, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to work with this dress. Just swap out your accessories, and you have a bazillion outfits.

This is not my first colourful BCBG schmatta. I buy at least one every year. (See (a), (b), and (c) above.) They wear well, but I like to cycle them out regularly for some variety. I bought this one on eBay for under $40 shipped, which is the right price range (for me) for that sort of exercise. For anyone inclined to give it a try, this dress pops up on eBay regularly, although you have to search around for it because descriptions on BCBG dress listings generally suck. (Try “geo print” or “multi print” as additional search terms. I’ve also seen it described as a “mod print”, which … ooookaaay.)

Just one caveat. I hand wash all of my BCBG dresses, and never had a problem.* Until this dress. This dress ended up with significant water marks. (Not quite full-on colour transfer, but these sort of greyish watermarks/lines.They come out in the wash … only to reappear somewhere else, depending on how the dress dries. Note: I’m afraid to put the dress in the dryer, so I’m not sure if that would solve the problem. Anyone?) I washed it 2 or 3 times to try to get the marks to be as unnoticeable as possible, but they’re still visible up close. So, moral of my caveat: if you buy this dress, dry clean it.

But, listen, it’s still a perfectly workable dress. See:

* My other two BCBG dresses have tags indicating “hand wash cold, lie flat to dry”. This one came with a missing care tag, so I’m not sure if the instructions were different. The material feels the same.

What I Wore: Ice-Cream Date

A while ago, a reader asked to see this Anthropologie dress sans one of my ubiquitous cardigans, and I aim to please. Also, any excuse to wear this dress is welcome. The construction of the bodice is incredible; it fits and drapes beautifully. It’s totally worth the wearing of a strapless bra, which is an entry level instrument of torture in my books. (FYI, you can adjust the sashy bit in front so it doesn’t look like a boob divider. Oops.) My only caveat is the material; while it has a nice feel to it, it does tend to cling to the body, particularly around the stomach area. If that’s not a concern for you, I hate you. Just kidding. (I merely dislike you, and your washboard abs.)

But, look! It has a nice swishiness to it:

More swish:

Look who’s getting in on the swishing action:

So, this was one of those days when nothing seemed to work. The baby woke up too early. I came down with a cold while still recovering from a previous one. My son threw himself off the couch, nearly getting a concussion for his trouble. And it rained all day. Seriously, it looked like this all day:

This would have barely warranted a mention, except it happened to be the day of the boy’s year-end playground party at his daycare program. Thankfully, we didn’t get completely rained out, but the weather did put a damper – literally – on the fun.

It also messed with my outfit plans. I was stoked to show you guys a black, white, and grey outfit (so chic! so restrained!), but I had to concede defeat and throw on the stupid vest. And swap out my cute, black ballerina flats for Chucks. Gah! My thought had been to wear something practical – being around a gaggle of pre-schoolers and toddlers kind of mandates that – but still put-together – the latter for the sake of my kid’s social life, really. I mean, no one wants to be the kid with the sloppy, awkward mother, right? If his future (play-date calendar) success depends on it, I can fake it with the best of them.

If only the rain didn’t cramp my style.

*Note: keeping the mini-remix theme going, this makes it 3 in a row for this top. I promise I stop now.