Funny thing, Inge just posted the same ML colorblockdress!

I am looking for a winter dress. I've actually never worn dresses in the winter as they feel formal to me, and mostly wear dresses with sandals in the summer.

I was inspired by Kim with the Eliza J dress in cobalt, and San in her ML colorblock dress to try these 2. Plus these are Angie's picks! (And, I must say, these dresses are outstanding in fabrication, feel, and drape).

I'm really undecided. They are much more formal than the informal life I lead. The other (few) women professors in my department wear trousers/blazers/shirts in neutral colors and muted colors. So these standout as very bright (Eliza J) and much more formal (ML). Kim ultimately decided that the cobalt dress was too "ladies who lunch" for her, and, Kim, I sort of feel like that too.

Plus my husband said I looked like I was running for congress in the Eliza J (the cobalt, I think). He liked the ML much more. BUT the Eliza J is much more comfortable; I like the a-line shape better than a straight dress.

I can only keep one, should one of these be "my winter dress" or should I keep looking? Perhaps I should find a more neutral dress that could be dressed up / dressed down.

(I'd have to size up in the ML; this size 8 is too tight. )

Enough dithering, here's the pics:
#1: The dansko shoes (I love them! They are a little high for me, but have a platform so fairly comfy)
#2-5 The Eliza J dress, in cobalt
#6-8 Maggy London colorblock (unzipped in back because no one was around to zip me up!)