Dress Up Dress: What’s The Occasion?

Dress Up Dress? What’s the Occasion?

Not Groundhog Day; it came and went without a handshake. Thankfully, my daughter Maurya was paying attention; she tells me that Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow; spring should be here soon.

Ah, good. Because while I love aspects of winter, I don’t know if our immune systems can hold out much longer, not to mention our ebbing reserve of endorphins. Thank you, darling.
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And speaking of spring, and Maurya…I took these pictures of Maurya last spring. Doesn’t she look happy? She was happy. We were both happy, me because she liked the dress I’d made, she because she’s basically a sweet, happy person anyway, and because she liked the dress, and because she had somewhere to go in it. Senior Cotillion I think.

Which is the Point. She Had An Occasion for her Dress Up Dress.

I love dresses. I do. I especially love dreaming them up… thumbing through vintage dress patterns at a fabric store is blissful therapy for me. So is catalog revelry (lately, Anthropologie) at my own kitchen table. Or laptop lookbook browsing with a friend.

My conundrum, and why I’m writing this post, is that I Lack (Alas) Occasions. Or at least I think I do. And perception is reality.

When to Dress Up in Dreamy Dresses?

I’ve outgrown proms and preferences; weddings don’t come around that often (besides, isn’t it taboo to divert attention from the bride?), and church…well (remembering weddings, and brides, and the social faux pas of ill-timed distraction) church is hardly a good setting for living out a dreamy dress fantasy (not that turning heads and eliciting gasps has anything to do with my loving dresses…?).

Or perhaps, wearing pretty dresses doesn’t actually demand an occasion? (Hmmm…what a concept). If this is true, I could wear a dreamy dress whenever I felt like it! But I waver; I waffle. I lack (again, alas) the celebratory spirit…or the playfulness, or whimsy, or courage it takes to just show up in a dress when a dress is not required, or expected.

So, What’s YOUR  Occasion For A Dress?

Do any of you love dresses too, and wish there were more reasons to wear them? Or maybe you can share a perspective that will motivate all of us to dress up more courageously? What do you think? If you could wear that dress you were coveting just the other day when you were out shopping or browsing online, what would your dress up moment look like? Who would be with you (or would you be alone)? How would you invite them? Where would you celebrate, revel, or…just be? And how would you celebrate or revel (what, exactly, would you do)?

What's your occasion?

I want to hear from you; send me your ideas!