I can understand that dress creates challenges for breastfeeding, but I don't find it too sexy, and it is perfectly acceptable for church. Or a night out with hubby. Or simply running to the grocery store.

The neckline is high, which implies modesty. It's a classic cut. It fits well, skimming the body just right. It is the perfect "day to evening" dress - just swap out shoes and jewelry to dress it up or down. You can wear this dress anywhere and everywhere and it is perfect. In fact, I just told you on the other thread that dress is a 9.5 without belt, and a 10 with belt.

It's truly a fabulous dress and while I realize as a mom you may not have as many occasions to wear dresses, I encourage you to find reasons to wear it as often as possible! It looks so good on you, perhaps it is worth the hassle of having to find a private room to undress to breastfeed? If not, save it for after breastfeeding stage is over, or for those occasions when you will only be wearing it between breastfeeding sessions.

Is it machine-washable?

I agree with Shiny. I don't read sexy with that dress at all. It's very flattering, versatile, and modest.

I think it's a great dress and definitely not too sexy. It is versatile enough that you can wear accessorize it and wear it on many occasions.

Anne - I would wear that outfit to my church. I think that you look great in it and it certainly isn't immodest. It's not too short and doesn't show cleave at all (hence the breastfeeding problem!). It fits you very well and shows of your waist but that's not a bad thing!

Echo! Great look on you Anne. I'm curious what about it was making you think it might be too sexy?

hmm, maybe you were worried about it being too form-fitting, and became conscious of your body? since this dress seems to fit you through the hips. I wouldn't think of it as sexy though :)

Absolutely not too sexy. When I first saw the pic on the other thread, it struck me as a very work-appropriate outfit. Maybe you're used to longer skirts? I'll admit it takes more attention to posture, how one's legs are placed, etc. to keep a knee-length skirt from riding up too much when one sits, especially if your legs are short like mine.

I'm very surprised that you would find this too sexy for...anything really. When you posted it before it struck me of having a very sweet and innocent look about it with the high neckline and puff sleeves. I don't find it the least bit sexy, unless you're Amish...

Beautiful dress, Anne, and as someone who goes to church regularly, I don't see anything too sexy about it. Its neckline, hemline, colour, and fit are all very classic, appropriate, and modest. Go for it!

Thanks everyone for your reassurance!
As I said, when I saw the photo I wondered why I had even thought that too.

It a great dress. I bought it in 1999 for $60 for a work dress and wore it often for years. It is machine washable and doesn't need ironing. I took it in around the high hip, because, especially pre babies, I often had flaps of empty fabric of clothes there. So that is why the fit is so good.

I am trying to work out why I thought there could be a problem. (It wasn't the length Becky and Maya)

I have worn this dress to church before (with different tops) but not since the latest baby. Probably because I have a kilo or so to go with the preggy weight (and probably a few more to get to what I weighed in 1999, but that is a different story) and in the morning (when I tried it on) I would have had fuller breasts than when I took the photo. So I suppose the dress felt tighter than it used to and that is why I got worried.

Shiny, I do love wearing dresses and am making an effort to wear them more! Especially this one after your great CRS!
I think it will soon be time to cut the breastfeeding down to perhaps 3 a day, which could mean, as you say that I could fit wearing a dress in, say for a morning.

Jetlag is catching up to me - and I can't sleep even though I'm thoroughly exhausted! So apologies in advance if this post makes little sense...

Anne, i have been thinking about this all day... and now reading your response, I've got to wonder. I don't know about other people, but when I had my babies, something changed about the way I saw myself. I was now a "mom" and somehow I needed to wear a certain style of clothes that befit that role. Does this make any sense yet?

I chopped my hair off - into what I now call the dreaded "mom helmut" look. Not flirty and trendy but that style... that is a non-style...

I dressed in baggy, overly mature clothing styles - even when dressing up. With demure modest hemlines etc. The dreaded "mom jeans." Sneakers. Sweats. And colors that faded into the wood work.

It wasn't about practicality at all... even if I told myself it was that...

Nope. It was about fitting into a Role Model that was somewhere deep within my subconcious. What a "Mom" looked like, which was something different than "Single woman" "Wife" or "Lover" or "Career Woman."

So you have me wondering if when you had those second thoughts before church... maybe something like this was flitting through your mind, and playing tricks with the mirror?

I think you look lovely anne. Sexy no, stylish yes!

Shiny makes an excellent point. I slipped away into that mom mode for a while too, although I am snapping out of it now, six or seven years into motherhood. One day I realized that with my blonde bob and North Face jacket (short fleece in the fall, black puffer and Ugg boots in the winter), I could be pretty much interchangeable with anyone in my suburb. I am so glad I got a pixie cut, let my hair go its darker natural color and started wearing Docs :) Does this ring true to you Anne, or not?

p.s. you look lovely in that dress!

I agree with everyone that the dress is just fine and perfectly appropriate for church.

Shiny-I went through another fashion personality "adjustment-period" when I became a Grammie!

Thanks again guys. Shiny and Laura I'll respond to your thoughts tomorrrow (it's nearly midnight here) as I'll need to mull it over a bit more. What is the "Mom helmet"?

(Hoping my mother never discovers my posting on this group!)

The mom helmet is what I have come to call the style of haircut my own mother has worn for 40 years!

Don't get me wrong - I adore short hair styles and I intend to go even shorter and pixie-ish one of these days when I get tired of my current cut. My hair was never meant to be long anyway - it starts breaking off and getting thin any time it attempts to get close to shoulder length. I would love to attempt a cut like Angie's or Ana's one of these days (though my cowlicks may simply not allow me to have Ana's adorable, face-framing bangs... sigh... my hair is much happier without bangs).

But the mom helmet... is like a non-style. It's not trendy, edgy, pixie-ish, or anything. It just kinda sits on your head like a.... helmet!

Remember how Ana's boyfriend was worried about her decision to go short? I would hazard a guess, he had images of mom-helmets in his head!! My own DH had similar reticence when I decided to go with the graduated bob I have now.... especially since he's seen pics from when my teens were babies and I went through my own mom helmet phase!!!

Susan - I'm so hoping I'll end up being the stylish, hip gramma... preferably with gorgeous white or silver hair!!!

My odd grays (I'm probably 25% gray underneath the highlights) are coming in snow white (like my dad) ... but they have this weird texture to them (like wire! much thicker than my other hair) and tend to stick out all over and behave rather unruly. Highlighting seems to tame the texture, but it makes me wonder about the style challenges down the road, when I decide to stop highlighting it.

In fact, I have always wondered: do people with gray/white/silver hair continue to dye it to get a certain shade that's just so?

P.s. I have recently started using a blue malva aveda shampoo, designed for gray hair. I bought it for DH, but decided to give it a try. I do find it takes out the brassiness and keeps my highlights looking new longer. Other than that, I'm still very curious about this whole going natural thing that is sure to be a challenge within the next 5-10 years.

Shiny, I am snatching a moment here. Am having one of those those lovely mother days - girls have been making christmas cards and are now cutting out gingerbead men...
This is my second attempt to write as I lost the first- won't try again with baby on the lap!

Thanks for explanation of Mom helmet - I may even have had one for a while!

Anyway on to your earlier response.
After some thinking I think my feeling is that my "too sexy" feeling was related to the type of fit (as above), and not to the Mum role.
[the gingerbread men have just turned into gingerbread ducks]

I just pressed send those to forstall losing my wwriting again..
I wanted to say that despite what I just said, I do resonate with quite a lot of what you said.
I think I am still learning how to dress as someone who is a SAHM. I liked wearing suits most of the time, and my "style" by preference is tailored, with interesting structural details.

Before kids I had very few casual clothes - just a pair of jeans which I wore with work tops, maybe a skirt or two. I had to buy shorts after my first daughter was born as I didn't own a single pair.

And I simply can't wear the type of clothes I used to wear so deciding what to wear _instead_ is a challenge. But YLF is helping!