I had a Laura Ashley dress that I still miss. I know - hard to imagine, but there you have it: the exception that proves the rule. It was like something Jane Eyre would have worn. I bought it in 1983 while in London as a college student. It was a severe, simple, charcoal dress with very thin black and maroon vertical stripes --- high neck, long sleeves, narrow torso, dropped waist, long gathered skirt. I wore it with short pointy boots, a big men's overcoat, and spiky hair. It was a look, for sure, but I loved that dress. I don't want those days back, but I remember them fondly.
