Krish, thank you for your wisdom, styling advice and commiseration. About the black dress, you have expressed it perfectly. The extra fabric in the front just seems to hang there on me and bunch, whereas on the larger woman I saw trying it, the whole effect was quite enchanting. Alas! And lesson learned....
I will also try your styling advice for #2. It will be usable this year, and then I will probably retire it.
As for the jackets, I didn't buy, so at the moment it is all theoretical!
Deborah and Joy, your beautiful quotations brought tears to my eyes.
I feel as if this has been a very powerful learning experience, worth the money that it cost me. First of all, you have helped me to rescue these two pieces for at least one season's wear. They may not be my best look but they will fill a travel and appearances hole for the immediate moment.
Meanwhile, they have taught me that I really do need more angles, simplicity (vs. curves) and now I know exactly what I will be looking for. SOME draping is okay. But it needs to be quite restrained.
I keep going back to those David Kibbe categories (http://colorconnection.yuku.co.....ECtkkIZd-A) and also to the Dressing your Truth mini-course (http://dressingyourtruth.com) that I did. BOTH of these systems suggested that angles and asymmetry
were my friends. In the Kibbe system I am a Classic Dramatic. In Carol Tuttle's system I came out a 3.
On that 12 Blueprints site (http://12blueprints.com/the-dramatic-true-summer/) I saw an acknowledgement of what is particularly difficult and what makes my shopping extremely frustrating. I'm a cool summer in colouring. This means I shouldn't be wearing the stark black and white or the autumn tones that clothes in the SHAPES that are right for me are typically made!
Perhaps the reason that I "get away with" black at times is simply because it is in a SHAPE I need.
Wouldn't it be great to find the shapes I need in the colours I need -- cranberry, orchid, raspberry, purple, smokey blue-grey, charcoal, ink blue, navy, taupe, denim.
Maybe I need to learn to sew. Maybe I need to get some of my clothes made.
I think it also explains the appeal of a suit to me. A suit is often a sharply angled, structured piece with a jacket (one of my KEY wardrobe items, as per Kibbe) in a blue or a grey.
Hmmm. Off to ponder some more. Thank you, again, everyone.