Dresses are HUGE. Dresses are your friend. Dresses are feminine and easy...(well, that's debatable). They should be, though. I love a dress - just one thing to put on, and it always communicates you've made an effort. But, I've had a few reminders recently that have caused me to want to drop a little line to you all about the importance of getting the dress right! As a Fashion Specialist, I empathize, laugh and cringe to watch as women tug, pull, grope, straighten and hike all day or evening long when they're wearing a fabulous dress (I'll say 'dress' here, but often in these more formal gatherings, it can be just about any 'dressy' outfit). What makes us so uncomfortable? Is it the comparing that makes us fuss, or the 'here's my one time a year that I have to wear this thing,’ or the ‘I HAD to find something to wear, so I just bought this uncomfortable little number?’
You know that I once was a professional singer - classical/opera, musical theater, sacred - and I loved it! (I also love that I now sing mostly in my church and practice daily for my pleasure.) Well, I watched a woman singing recently who had on a gown that was strapless. Bad choice. Her piece was very involved, long and even more physical than usual for a classical piece. (She pranced around the stage!) Ugh!! Her mind must have been constantly whipping back to, ‘Am I giving the audience more of a show than I intend?’ I felt terrible for her. Now, I'll admit, classical singers are in especially tough places here. We need to be able to be glorious in a dress/gown AND be able to be comfy enough to stand usually quite still, emote, and breathe with a waist that expands a couple of inches! But, singers aside, let's chat about what we can do to help our glamorous cause here, ladies:
-Choose a dress that FITS...in the bust, in the waist, at the shoulder, in the bottom, in the length. If it doesn't FIT, alter it. If you can't or don't want to...leave it on the rack and walk away.
-Ask yourself, ‘What will I be doing in this dress?’ Will I need to sit? Then try sitting. Walk? Dance? Stand in front of a crowd? Try all these things IN the dress. If it's a fabric or a cut that won't freely allow for these things, move along.
-If the neckline is deep, keep the hemline longer. If the neckline is modest, then you may have a shorter hemline. Deep and short is a little risky, it communicates something I'm not sure you're going to like!
-Bring the shoes you intend to wear with this dress with you to your fitting or on your shopping trips.
-Consider ways in which you can reinvent this dress. Will you be able to wear it in a few different settings without people commenting, ‘There she is in her blue dress again?’ Can you add a wrap, a scarf, or a bold necklace to change up the look?
-CARE: How do you feel about dry cleaning? Is it hand washable?
Well, enough said. I think my next blog will be fashion 'no-no's.' Again, I love ya, and I hope you don't mind my honest comments or my observations. We're in this together!!
You were created to be lovely. Be lovely.
Nancy
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