Dress, RACHEL Rachel Roy (via consignment); cardigan, J. Crew Factory; boots, Nine West; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)
Rachel Roy just gets me, man. That’s all I can say. I love this dress nearly as much as my holy grail one, and it loves me right back. Hips and all. It’s a summer dress, so I’m doing it an injustice by smothering it with a cardigan, but summer is just too far away, dammit. Patience is a virtue and all, but who has time for that? Anyway, the dress has beautiful, sari-inspired detailing, which I’ll have to show you next time. For now, here is another angle so you can see the side ruching detail.
Grab a comfy chair and the beverage of your choice, dear reader, it’s story time.
Eight or nine years ago, I met my first real life style icon. I was a fashion noob, only recently graduated from the Suzy Shier/Forever 21 school of dressing. I had never heard of, much less read, a single fashion blog. My idea of fancy dressing was Banana Republic, and, yes, I would have called it “fancy dressing”. She was … the woman I wanted to grow up to be. Beautiful. Smart. Funny. Warm. Impeccably stylish. She was only a few years older than me, which kind of blew my mind because I couldn’t imagine ever getting to be so cool. (I’m still not.) We became friends, and she took me under her wing, style-wise. She introduced me to a ton of designer brands I’d never heard of, and taught me how to score the best deals. She took me to my first (and still my favourite) consignment store, which was a game-changer. She pushed my style horizons beyond polyester and bad denim.
She also gave me my first Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress. What? Yes. Yes, she did. My budget at the time did not stretch far enough to cover the sleeve off a DVF dress, much less the whole thing, but – oh, how I wanted one. And one day, without much fanfare, my friend gave me one of her finds. It was like Christmas, and my birthday, and winning the lottery, all in one lizard-print wrap dress.
Back in my size 4 days … before the invention of blush and lipstick, evidently.
Over the years, I haven’t worn it very often, usually just for special events (because I’m a weirdo who “saves” her favourite clothes, and then complains about having nothing nice to wear). I’ve since bought other DVF dresses, but this one retains its sentimental value. Still, I don’t wear it as much as I should, probably by force of habit. And that means that, in the scheme of things (being my major wardrobe overhaul), it’s probably time to let it go. Yet, for a while now, I simply couldn’t. It didn’t feel right. And then, recently, it hit me.
More recently, at my 5-months-pregnant size … still fits!
It might be time for me to pay it forward. Time for this dress to find its next owner, someone who will love and be inspired by it. Maybe someone who needs a little pick-me-up. Or a dress for a special occasion. If you think you, or someone you know, might be that person, drop me a line in the comments. The dress is a size 8, but can comfortably fit anyone from a size 4 to 10. I would be happy to mail it out anywhere in Canada and the U.S. Guys, the sisterhood of the magical wrap dress – let’s make this happen!
(I don’t know if anyone will be interested, but if there is more than one person, I will probably resort to my time-tested pull-a-name-out-of-a-hat routine. Unless y’all want to do a round of “rock, paper, scissors”, or arm wrestle for it, or something.)
[Edited to add: thank you for your responses so far. I really appreciate each one, truly! I will leave this post open for a week (until Saturday, April 26) and will draw a name thereafter. I’m toying with the idea of doing a little video, but god knows, I hate my speaking voice so this might be a cute idea in principle only. Stay tuned!!]
Top & jeans, RACHEL Rachel Roy; jacket, Old Navy; cardigan, Target; boots, Josef Seibel; bag, MbMJ (via consignment)
That was my face immediately after my mom told me there was snow in the forecast … and I tried to smile. So, basically, pain. Visceral pain.
We went to visit a family friend with the kids, and although I was just then in the midst of A Very Bad, No Good Week, I wore my favourite floral top so I could at least look cheery. And my brand new boots, because those actually do cheer me up a bit whenever I wear them. Looking at the photo, I wish I had (and wore) a yellow scarf instead of the green; the outfit, if not my complexion, would have looked better. And it would have been more cheerful.
