As a little girl, I loved dresses. I loved trying them on, twirling in front of the mirror to see how far the skirt of the dress flew out around me and then wrapped itself around my legs when I stopped. It made me giddy; made me feel pretty. I almost always wore a dress to church on Sundays and frequently to school (with shorts underneath, of course, so I could hang upside down from the monkey bars). Throughout my high school years and 20’s, it was a staple need for any special occasion event. The first thing I would do if invited to a special dance or wedding was head out to the store to find that perfect dress. I would get just the right shoes and even the perfect earrings. I loved going into Nordstrom’s or Saks Fifth Avenue and try on lots of dresses to see which one would make me feel grown-up, lady-like, and gorgeous (not to mention like someone who could afford these shopping sprees!). In my 30’s, I still went immediately to dresses for special occasions but they became fewer and far between. I liked having dresses in my closet for just the right party, theatre outing, or wedding.
But oddly enough, now that I officially am a grown-up, I rarely wear dresses. The first thing I go to is a pair of jeans or on work-at-home days, sweats. In my early career, I always wore skirts with heels (and, yes even pantyhose—YIKES!). It felt like the right thing to do, the right way to dress to look professional. But the dresses and skirts in my closet rarely make an appearance anymore. Is this a result of my professional move from book publishing into software? From the comfort-level of sitting in a pair of pants instead of a dress? The fact that weddings and special dances are fewer and farther between? Or from my 6+ years living in Seattle? Or just the natural fashion trend from living on the west coast? Maybe it’s all of the above.
In one of my first posts, I wrote about the fact that I went out and bought a few new dresses to add to my closet before the diet started. I had this vision that perhaps that would be helpful in my ongoing dating search for Mr. Right. I did receive lots of compliments when I wore them (although, I still haven’t worn 3 of the dresses I purchased back in September). And, I did feel more feminine. Perhaps, it’s time to break out some of these dresses again and see if I can recapture whatever that feeling was I used to define as feeling grown-up, lady-like, and gorgeous on a more regular basis.
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Kerrie, I loved this post. I hate dresses, or I should say wearing dresses but I love to see other people wearing them. Women in dresses are like flowers in a dry field. Seriously, I believe they really are a special thing. I hate wearing skirts and dresses and pantyhose for a variety of reasons. My biggest issue, however, is that I feel physically limited in them. Sometimes I think they were designed to keep us women from getting away. I remember working in the buying office at Macy’s in SF in my early 20s. At the time the pencil skirt and high heels were in. Have you ever tried to move fast in a pencil skirt and heels? Let’s just say the guys always got tot he finish line first. I often wonder if that was by design?