So. I bought this gorgeous Tory Burch dress at the NAS.

I love this dress. It is beautiful, nicely made, drapes well, and (if I say so myself) looks good on me. It also packs without wrinkles. And it seems as if it should be versatile.

Except...2 months after the NAS, the tags are still on it. And I can't see myself wearing it in the foreseeable future. And even on sale, this was a big expense for my budget. So I am wondering if I should send it back.

What's the problem? Well...despite the fact that my mother, on seeing it, nodded approvingly and told me, "You could wear that dress anywhere..." I can't for the life of me figure out how or where to wear it.

To begin with, there's the fact that it has sleeves, but is a lighter weight fabric. So is it for summer, fall, winter, or spring? In my climate, it would mostly be a transitional weather dress, I've realized.

Because if I really want to wear it in winter, how would I? Other than nude hose, I can't think of a colour that would work well (or not one that I could easily find). And then, what about footwear? And none of my toppers look right with it, either. (Admittedly, I don't have many toppers at the moment, but that's another story.)

Not only that, but I'm having trouble imagining when I'd put it on. For what type of occasion?

I think if I worked in an office I'd wear it to work. But I don't work in an office.

It feels too ladylike for most of my appearances; I'm much more likely to wear jeans and a cool jacket to one of those. And if the occasion is truly dressy, I want something dressier than this. Something like my Nicole Miller sheath.

It might be a going-out-for-dinner with Mr. Suz dress...but we stay in more often than go out. I will put on a dress for our dinners in -- but I usually reach for a casual dress. Even when we go out, it's often casual, and if we're out to a fancier place, I'd probably want something a bit less conservative-feeling.

I don't do revealing or va-va-voom. So I would not be looking for anything overtly sexy. Ever. But this dress feels "pretty" rather than "subtly alluring" if that makes sense. And that means I'd be less likely to choose it for a date night.

It does look great with my red winter coat. So it could be covered up that way in cooler weather.

I'm just beginning to wonder if maybe in my life there's more of a dichotomy between my casual and smart casual and my dressier capsule than I sometimes suppose. Seems like I want my items either one way or the other.

If I'm missing something obvious and you can see great ways for me to wear this dress, please let me know. While expensive, I can afford it. It might mean not having something else later this year, but that's okay. It's excellent quality and lovely and if I could wear it, I would wear it, if that makes any sense at all. I also think it probably has style longevity and won't date too quickly. And since it's a goal to build a closet of fewer but higher end items, I'm disposed to try to make it work.

Hmm. Maybe it's just too ladylike and not princely enough for me?