Monday, April 5, 2021

Shopping for a new dress




When the seasons start changing, I start wanting a new frock.

I remember my mom and I shopping for a new Easter outfit every year so maybe that's the reason.

That little Easter outfit always included the whole nine yards.

New dress, shoes, hat, and new bag.










I'm thinking this is how my love of hats started. That was always my favorite part of the shopping spree.

And I do still love to shop.

And I do love pretty clothes.

So.

In the mood to shop, but far from feeling comfortable going into real brick and mortar shops, I thought I'd try one of my favorite go to on-line shops; Anthropologie.

Well, what a bust that turned out to be.

Ugh.

The experience led me to make the following post at Facebook:

"Dress designers have made it really easy for me to save money lately. Dresses with deep tiered ruffles and puffy sleeves is not a good look for grown-ups."

Seems I am not in the minority with how women are feeling about this year's "look," being referred to as the "Little House on the Prairie" look.

My post started a bit of a discussion about women dressing for other women, or what men like women to wear, etc. I was a little surprised by this since it never occurred to me that I should, or might, want someone's opinion on the clothes I buy.

I know for a fact that Donald Barley has never gone shopping with me and I can only imagine the look of horror on his face if I asked him to. It would probably be fairly close to the look of horror he might have if I showed up wearing one of those Little House on the Prairie dresses.  Don's not one for prissy little ruffles, and even if he were he's never try to tell me how to dress.

When I go shopping for a new dress, I try it on, look in the mirror and either like it or not. I never give one thought as to anyone else. I buy it or I don't based on how I feel about it.

I do miss shopping with my mom, but I don't recall modeling anything for her to get her approval once I reached the age where I was buying my own clothes.

Do women really care what someone else thinks of what they're wearing?? How have I lived 72 years without knowing this??




Anyway.




Since I didn't find a dress I liked I continued "window shopping" and stumbled across a Parisian jewelry designer I fell in love with.

More about that tomorrow!







4 comments:

Lesa said...

Oh, I can't wait to hear about the Parisian jewelry designer.

Jim used to go clothes shopping with me, mainly because I hate clothes shopping. So, he'd go pick out all kinds of things, bring them to me, and I'd try them on. Then, I'd buy a couple of everything I liked, in different colors, so I wouldn't have to shop for another 6 months or so.

Now, hats are another story! I love hats, and I don't mind shopping for them.

Kaye Wilkinson Barley - Meanderings and Muses said...


Next time we go to Paris, Lesa, let's shop for new hats! Ooh la la!

Lesa said...

Oh, yes, we'll find fantastic hats!

kerayne said...

Michael loves to shop and he loves to buy me clothes. One of the last times we went shopping before the pandemic started, we were at a Chico's outlet, and I found some slacks I wanted to try on. A few minutes in, a woman came into the dressing room. "Miss Karen?" I said, "Yes?" and she handed me three tops. "A man out there wants you to try these on." I did, and ended up buying all three along with the pants which went perfectly with each top. He's always had an eye. I don't need his approval to buy anything, but he seldom misses when he buys me something (he goes into my closet and checks sizes before shopping). I dress strictly for me, but when I see him look at me with approval, I am always happy about that. If he doesn't like what I'm wearing, he says nothing, because I told him once, 50 years ago or more, before we were married, that he was never to ask about my choice of clothes again. And he never has.