I was inspired by kkards to look at Maggie London dresses. Not navy- too dark, & I have a navy Boden for somber occasions. Not the Angie pink which is too bright. But, because ML fit has worked for me in the past.

The one that caught eye was the ivory/ black mock neck drape front. Sorry, not doing Finds.

It arrived and is an amazingly good and somewhat forgiving fit due to pattern & draping.

Here’s the rub: IRL the light/ dark print ( more of a pinky beige than ivory) looks higher- contrast on me than expected and it seems my face kind of disappears. However, tryon was w/ o any makeup ( which I would wear for “ dress” occasions ), so perhaps I’d look more alive and I may be overly concerned about this aspect. OTOH, it’s in no way a “LBD” or even a little taupe dress or any such wear- once-week staple.

I was engaged in dialog with myself: self 1: You need to return because the print is just not quite right-Next!
Self 2: but the fit is great & fools eye re; tummy, and length is good ( the short side comes to just bottom of kneecap, whilst many asymmetrical hems I’ve tried are shorter. )
Self 1: something else will turn up.
Self 2: Waaahhh!

The for some reason I pulled out a black pullover and a burgundy one and tried those on with dress with black or burgundy footwear and I really loved how that looked. It felt very “ me”. I’ve treated dresses like “ skirts” successfully that way before. Especially with tights and boots. And got me thinking about trying a vest, and so on. Plus I could still wear the dress alone and it would look pretty different ( I mean, not fooling anyone that it IS a different dress).

Soooo- self 2 is pulling ahead to keep it, at a good price point for me as a less- often dress-wearer ( or skirts, though nowadays I specialize in knife- pleated midis) , but still loving occasional change up from pants.
I’m in a somewhat new phase of being less happy with the outfits I can create , and not finding as often that “ certain something “ that looks and feels the way I want to. Whereas I wanted to wear one of these sweater+ dress creations as soon as possible!

I know this is my own inner argument.
But I’d be interested to hear how some of you may have dealt with the but, maybes.