Here is an update for all of the kind YLF’ers who have been helping me.

Spent a whole day at the Big Mall and did not feel that I found “the outfit”. I do think it helped a lot to go there—got much more focused. I did look for something in the line of a pantsuit and did not “see” anything that would work, but also came away feeling like I would keep my eyes more open here at home.

I brought home 2 dresses that are easily returnable in order to “play” with them more. Also, like Dorothy saying there’s no place like home, I have a dress that I ordered from Nordstrom’s a few weeks ago and had not yet returned because it was partly right. After not finding any dresses along its same lines, it's looking better.

Disclaimer: none of the toppers or jackets shown are ones I would use; I’ve just shown them to get some feel for what the dresses would look like with a jacket and certain colors, if I could get the right length/color/style.

Dresses and issues:
1-4 VC blouson dress in a blue print. This is the one I’d kept from mail-order that is the direction I hoped to go in, and now has achieved higher status. It’s blouson and too big on top, shown after I’ve clipped it in back. This is the best dress by far I’ve found for a kind of easy, elegant skirt drape & length. In most of the dresses I’ve tried, the waist is too high, making the fullness start too high for me, and/or the fullness is too full, and looks baby-doll or pregnant, especially when skirts are too short. Blue is not my healthiest-looking color, but if I had a contrasting jacket from the red family I could get over that. To make it more wedding-like, I prefer a dressy jacket to a cardigan, so I only show the pink cardigan, fuchsia & black jackets to get some idea of color contrasts.

Q: Do you think a “cool” deep pink , short, dressy jacket would look good with the blue? I think one might be findable. There is a lot of HOT pink out there—is that too attention-getting for MOTB? Navy would of course “go,” but doesn’t improve color. Also would find a different belt --could be wider/more defined.

(Separate epiphany: I think I want to get this dress regardless, after finding how hard it is to get “all” of my wants in one dress, this one seems very wearable and can be paired with toppers in rosier colors at a range of price points. I was going to take it in for alterations this week, but now see there’s a smaller size, so may order that & compare.

5-7: Kay Unger dress that I brought home, but probably shouldn’t have. Thought it was on sale at first, but was “last call” but the colors I love and beautiful fabric sucked me in to trying on. High price for me for a dress. For a usual MOTB dress I think would be okay, also more evening-like, has a few sparkles up top, but the catch is, I still would want to wear a jacket, and this dress would call for a very nice jacket, maybe silk in a shade of the caramel/nude/gray colors in the dress, which can be harder to find (a leather jacket could be luscious, but not for April in Texas) & nude shoes to move it from fall-colors to more springy. Then, I end up with this expensive dress with nice neckline and V back that I will always cover up, with a likely expensive jacket. My frugal side says that for sleeveless dresses I should pay a lot less and emphasize fit & look of the jacket. Other issue is the sheath style itself; great for cocktail parties, but I had just figured would not be as “easy” to wear for a long evening outdoors .Shoes would be an issue—can’t wear “fab” pumps or strappy heeled sandal that this dress may call for.

8-9: Just something else I tried—dress with black skirt portion and print top. I would have liked it better if whole dress was the print, as adding a colorful jacket could work (column of print). Also has a kind of pseudo-peplum—it’s a kind of bow—that makes jackets more difficult. This dress requires alterations in bodice that may not come out well and so at present it’s a reject.

Last pics: No trip to Nordies is wasted—Sperry oxfords in shoe sale! Love the color--called “cordovan” but is more mottled and interesting to my eye than a typical cordovan. Not a dainty oxford, but very wearable as a working day shoe and a nice change from black and brown and goes with every color.