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carter

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Dressing

20 replies

Latest reply was from carter

karymk

Veteran

Wow, I am amazed that you keep your things so long. I probably ditch mine too fast. Very few things in my closet are more than three years old. Even if the quality lasts, I get sick of stuff or want to "reinvent" myself. I like how you know what looks good on you. The sheath never goes out of style and it really flatters you Carter so I can see how there wouldn't be a need to dump them unless they are falling apart. But if you keep accumulating at this rate you will end up with one hundred sheaths in very little time!

My uniform dress in spring/summer is the shirtdress. I like them sleeveless so I can slip a sweater on easily. GAP works great for this style. Do you wear a shirtdress?

Peri

Veteran

If this is what you wear it doesn't seem like too much. No one would balk at having 16 tops for instance...it would seem like a nice number. I don't wear dresses...I'm desperately trying to find just one I like...but if you wear them a lot it seems reasonable.

Of the new ones I like the final 4 better than the first two. No reason, just what I like! They are all nice.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I like that you are adding patterns with the new dresses, to break up the solid sheath look that dominated all the previous dresses. My fave of the new are the colorblocked one with the black waistband and the purple paisley-like print, second from right.

Oh, and I'm paring down from around 18 dresses to a goal of 15, ideally 12 (and I live half my life in cold snowy climate). I don't think the amount is too many, especially if you get wear out of them.

Isabel

Veteran

WOW. They are super. I really like the variety in prints and neutrals. Before my weight gain, I also had things going back to college ! If you love it and it still looks classic and modern and TIMELESS, YES !!!

I think that since you wear dresses a lot in the warm weather, this is great. They are varied enough too to cover a lot of situations. And you work. I am giving you two thumbs up !

( I have about TEN dresses for the warm weather, which is our shortest season, and I am a SAHM. I do wear them but not as often as I would like in a 2 1/2 - 3 month span because I also have a couple of skirts and lightweight capris. So your numbers seem very reasonable to me with your lifestyle. )

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I definitely don't think this is too many for your climate and your line of work. A dress is so easy in the heat and you always know you look pulled together in it. Plus, you suit the sheath and the shift styles.

Like Karymk, I'm amazed you hold on to some of your clothes so long, but clearly those items are winners for you and they don't date.

My favourites are the 2 years "daisy" dress, and two of the new ones -- the one you modelled yesterday with the border and 3/4 sleeves, and the last one. Gorgeous.

Too bad about the pink jacket, but oh well -- it will look great with other stuff in the closet.

carter

Veteran

Karen, I toss things that look tired quickly...tees, shorts, etc, and things that are dated or just don't suit me anymore, but work dresses tend to stick around because I buy decent quality and styles with staying power. One of my favorite items in my closet is from the evening capsule...my LBD is 25 years old, and still looks perfect and gets worn fairly often. I don't have any shirtdresses because I've never found one in a style that suits me well. I'll look forward to seeing yours this Summer though!

Thanks, Peri. Those last 4 are my favorites of the new ones too.

Thanks, Mo. It was a sea of plain before, wasn't it? I'm enjoying adding some pattern. I realize that for most folks who work in an office the patterns would be too memorable, but since I don't go to an office and I work with each client over the course of several weeks or months (not 5 days/week for 10 years), they're not likely to realize that I may wear the loud purple paisley dress every 3rd Thursday of the month, or whatever. What are your thoughts behind reducing yours from 18 to 15/12? You do seem to wear a lot of dresses in FL. Do you not wear them often in Tahoe?

lyn67

Veteran

Wow, how could I miss the series of this thread on your fab dresses? I must have been very engaged enouncing the new challenge in the challenege chain, but am here now! I am a dress girl myself, so I had to look back on all your threads starting with the bl&white dotted one and hot pink bazer, which I still like it one of the most for DD's graduation. I so can relate to your love of shift/sheath(?)dresses!

(BTW can somebody explain pls. the difference between the two kinds? it's very confusing for not a native English speaker to understand the difference)

How cool is that you can still get in your graduate school dress! And I can see why the top right one is one you reach it to again and again. I love the bold and contrasty unique pattern-goes well with your coloring for coller weather, and the fit is excellent.

If you still ask a dress for DD's graduation I will always think like bold contrast monochromatic first, so like nr. 1,3,4 from the second row. But how cool to wear your own graduation dress, with a blazer on it? Like adding quite of a meanings to it:-).

And what will your DD's wear? Did you think to coordinate in an(even so slightly) way for family picties? I surely would think at this, too. My DD had first communion 2 yrs ago, and then I had the same dillemas like you, too. She had to wear bl&w so I figured i'd rather do not, but then, I didn't feel like wearing a too bold color, or print either. (You can see what I came up with in the end, in one of my threads if interrested:-)).

Can't wait to see your final decision, as you have an amazing dress capsule, and I trust your style and guts!:-)

Beth Ann

Veteran

I missed your dress post, too, Carter!

I love the latest addition particularly, with its bold pink, but all them are great. You have amazing consistency in fit and silhouette over the years --- you know what works for you and this pays off! I don't see a need to purge unless there are wear issues, space limitations, or unless your simply tired of them. I do think it would be nice for you to have a dress in a different silhouette - perhaps a grown up, fuller skirted dress, or a shirt dress, buttoning down the front (just do the sit test on that one!).

P.S. the fuller skirted dress is a HEWI for me -- so many default to the too short, too young skater look.

carter

Veteran

Thank you, Isabel. So glad I'm not the only one who tends to hold onto things for a long time. As you can see, I was obviously heavier 5 years ago when I bought the purple dress. I'm not the same shape or size I was in college, but there has been very little fluctuating since the birth of my first child. The shift dresses can easily hide my normal 4-5 pounds fluctuations. Some of the sheath dresses, not so much.

Thanks, Suz. I'm loving the last one from yesterday as well. I think that will be what I wear for this week's open house. Glad you like the daisy dress as well. That's a great one for all day showings in Summer. I have to admit, it never occurred to me that I keep things longer than many people. I can definitely see that many of the updated tops and bottoms I've been buying lately will certainly not still be in my closet in 20 years, but I do think of things being around at least 5 years or so (except for tees). How long do you typically keep something in rotation?

LoriFLA

Carter, I don't think it's crazy. I tend to get rid of things too soon. I get in moods where I'm out with the old, in with the new. I have been too quick to get rid of some garments that I wish I would have kept. I do tend to hold onto dresses longer because I don't wear them that often. I only have four dresses at the moment and not one LBD.

You have a great figure for dresses. All look great but I especially love 1,3,4,5,6 on the bottom row.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Here are my dresses (not included are 2 I have listed on eBay and 1 I'm sending to consignment).
I do wear dresses in Tahoe, but as you can see, they are long sleeved or sweater dresses. I found I had several dresses that weren't getting fair share of wear. A handful of them have been worn less than 4 times, and 3 have not been worn at all. The other half has made up for that, being worn three or four times as much.
The thinking behind bringing the number down is the same thought process going through much of my wardrobe building or management. I want to make do with less, and wear my stuff more.
I also wanted to start thinking more specifically within categories. Realizing I need different styles for different occasions: A brunch/Mother's Day/garden party type frock in the abstract floral. A tromp through the snow one in the turtleneck cabled sweaterdress. A sexy, going out on the town version in the bodycon black sheath. And so on.

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carter

Veteran

Thanks, Lyn67. I love your style as well. You'll see in this thread, I was inspired by you, but I couldn't manage to pull it off! For graduation, my daughter is planning to wear a cream dress (whether she sticks with this the morning of or not remains to be seen). My husband will wear a dark suit and my son will wear likely wear a black or blue blazer with khakis (or possibly a black suit). I will be the colorful one in the bunch (as I always am). I'm thinking the pink paisley dress with the orange KS bag and some neutral sandals. I'll go hunt down your Communion thread. As for sheath vs shift, I'm sure there's an official delineation, but to me, a sheath is form fitting (out at the chest, in at the waist, out at the hips, back in toward the hem) and a shift is a much straighter silhouette, essentially hanging straight from the shoulder line. Shifts tend to work best in thin, flowy fabrics so there is a hint of shape when you walk.

Thank you, Beth Ann. I keep trying different dress styles, but I keep coming back to these two. I tried a faux wrap dress yesterday because Janet looked so amazing in the DVF dress she posted the other day, but I just don't like them on me. My waist is really high and fairly small, so I have boobage spillover, then a steep curve in at the waist and a really long slope outward over the hips. I'm so jealous of folks who can do the wrap, because I like it so much...just not on me. It is primarily the sit test on the shirtdress that worries me since I spend so much time with clients in the car. I really don't want to worry whether I'm flashing skin. I hope you find a fuller skirted dress that's perfect for you. Maybe you'll inspire me to give it a go!

carter

Veteran

Fastkat, I admit I have gotten rid of some things too soon as well. I do like to purge, but I suppose it doesn't happen very much in my dress collection. If I had purged 5 years ago (when I had to buy the purple dress that is now too large), I would really be kicking myself now if I had ditched the linen one and the pink one.

Mo, that makes total sense. I suppose in a way, mine are activity based as well. They all work as work dresses. Some can also be dressed up for evenings, and some can be dressed down for barbecues. Most of mine do get sufficient wear, although I certainly reach for some more often than others. We'll see how this number works for me this year. I do like variety/options, but I really haven't thought about what the optimal number would be.

Helena

Veteran

I agree with fastkat - you were made to wear dresses! Every one is gorgeous, and you demonstrate the power of a classic with a great fit - unless you said so, I would never have guessed some of those dresses were older. Why purge them when they look great, and great on you?!?

MsMaven

Veteran

I am impressed that you found your style, but have also enlarged your choices by some changes in shape and the addition of patterns.

I had some dresses going back 25 years but once I accepted the fact that I will never fit in them again, and if I did I still wouldn't wear them, I donated them. I think it's great that you have made such wise choices that you can continue to wear a dress for a decade or more. And lucky that your weight doesn't fluctuate so much.

carter

Veteran

Thanks, TG! I do love wearing dresses. It will be so fun to have a few new options.

Thanks, MsMaven. I have definitely made mistakes over the years, which is evident if you read between the lines of my timeline. I certainly didn't have just the one dress for 10 years before I bought another, but it was the only one that survived the test of time and wearability. I put another one in the donation bin this morning that I bought a couple years ago but have never worn. It's really cute, good color, great fit, but it's really too young for me and not appropriate for any event I can think of that might come up.

lyn67

Veteran

Who thought my simple skirt tuck can inspire others, I'm so humbled! Thanx for getting me back to your thread as I missed it somehow, too. I am much more a pronounced and curvy hourglass I think, so I buy my skirts sized them up for my hips, then always alter them on waist. And, they stay on...I never had the problem you describe there...I'm sorry, but have no clue for it.

Thanx for clarifying me the shift vs. sheath dress, I learned today something here, again:-).

Wow, it sounds you'll be a very stylish family! And yes, the pink paisley with the orange bag sounds great! There has to be some color there between the guys, I also have had an orange clutch for that event myself:-)(I made visible all picties for you, now) Pls. show us a family photo when possible, too!:-)

Lisa

Veteran

Wow you have a great collection of dresses and kudos to selecting styles that endure over the long time frame.

Parsley

Veteran

What a great collection of dresses! I'm impressed by how well you know your own style and how consistent you've been with your choices over the years. I'm also impressed that you have evidently kept your weight so stable that you can continue to wear your favorites. I'm afraid that I've yo-yoed way too much to keep things for years. You do look great in the sheath and shift silhouette (my favorite, too!).
I love your new choices, and the addition of some pattern. They seem like they'll be perfect for work and for your climate and should get lots of wear.
Super dress capsule!

carter

Veteran

Lyn67, thanks so much for the scoop on how you get the perfect sizing on your awesome skirts. I had the best time scrolling through your old posts looking for the Communion entry. Found it! You looked fab, and the neutral picture with the pop of the orange clutch was really terrific. I'll have to give this some more thought.

Thank you, Lisa!

Marcy, I have such a hard time believing that your weight has yo-yoed! Loved your dress thread!