Thinking about dresses

Three dresses

I’ve had these three dresses hanging over my wardrobe doors for a couple of weeks now, trying to decide which is my favourite, and which I should therefore make again.

Trouble is, I haven’t really been wearing dresses lately, as I tend to reach for them only in the heights of summer and winter. Last winter was so mild we didn’t see a single flake of snow, and so I didn’t need my usual winter outfits of leggings (or bloomers and knee socks), a long petticoat, a long sleeve t-shirt, a long flowing dress, and a jumper. This summer… well, we haven’t quite reached it yet, and so I’m in a limbo of chinos and t-shirts, or ancient jeans that I really should have thrown out already.

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I wore the dress on the right (Vogue 9112, Marcy Tilton’s “Cirque” dress) to visit a friend, and it turned out to be perfect for having a picnic on the lawn, followed by having a small plastic car driven over my knees on the sofa. What more could I ask of a dress? I wore it with yoga pants, as it was always my intention for this one to be more of a tunic style. (I am also eagerly awaiting the release of the Dottie Angel Dress pattern, for tunic-making purposes.)

17/5/14

The middle dress, Advance 8065, a 1956 pattern, I wore to work on my last day at the Museum. It was comfortable, but I do need a slightly longer slip to wear underneath it, to stop it from catching on my bloomers and going all bunchy around the knees. (Either that or I need to start making my bloomers in silk rather than cotton!)

Bee dress, July 2014

I’d had the same issue the day before, when I wore a not-quite-finished dress, which had started life as a shirt but ended up with the skirt from the pattern above added to the bottom. It still needs a placket and buttons, but although it was a bit tricky to get off again, it held together okay with a big brooch at the collar!

But did I enjoy wearing it enough to finish this one and make another? At the moment I’m not sure. I feel as though a dress should be an easy option for an outfit. One garment, pop it on, add a cardigan, and away you go. Somehow the reality of having to pair a dress with a bra slip and bloomers makes it seem like more trouble than it’s worth.

1970s dress

As for this one, the dress on the left in the top photo (Butterick 4637, a 1970s pattern), I haven’t worn it more than a few times since I made it, and most of those times were as soon as it came off the machine. Even having it hanging around in full view simply isn’t tempting me to put it on. Maybe because the fabric’s quite dark, so it feels like a winter dress. Perhaps it would be better with leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt underneath. It just doesn’t feel right for summer, somehow.

I still haven’t had a proper sort-out of the side of the wardrobe that hides all of my dresses, so perhaps I need to do that before I decide anything. This year I definitely feel more drawn towards novelty prints and vintage styles than I do towards my long floppy linen dresses and long petticoats. But maybe that’s just because the weather hasn’t warmed up yet, and it’ll be tunics and petticoats and bloomers all the way once the sun comes out.

All I know is that I currently have so much stuff that I’m feeling totally overwhelmed by it. I definitely need to make a concerted effort to sew things that I’m actually going to wear, rather than being tempted by interesting patterns and pretty fabrics. Either that, or actually stop sewing for a while, and concentrate on wearing the things I have already. We’ll see.