Lesson in Proportion, v2

I bought this dress on sale at Nordstrom a couple of weeks ago, and have tried fruitlessly to figure out how to wear it. That seems crazy, right? It looks like it would be so easy to style, especially for a dress gal like me.

Turns out, it is a deceptively complicated dress. It's sleeveless, but the pattern right at my chest needs a cardigan or jacket to break it up so I don't get uni-boob. It's got great gathered drape at the waist, but I had to get it tailored because it was too big (a smaller size might have been a better choice) so it needs just the right belt to work.

But the trickiest part of the dress is the hem. First, it's a midi, which makes finding the right shoe complicated. Second, the lighter color repeating at the hem is tough for me to wear, as it tends to drag the eye down and widen me out. (I had the same problem with a dress long ago. I never learn my lesson!)

So I struggled with this dress for a while, trying and rejecting different shoe options, attempting black tights with it (BAD idea, grey is as dark as the tights should get with this), skinny belts, jackets, etc. Nothing worked until today.



These cheap-o grey fabric pumps with mary-jane bow haven't been worn in two years, and by about halfway through the day I remembered why; they're not very stable so I ended up putting all my weight on the balls of my feet when I walked. When I finally got home and was able to take them off, I felt like an astronaut returning from the moon, getting used to gravity again and re-learning how to walk on my whole foot again. Hee! But I did like the sheer black hose with the dress; that part I will wear again.

I added a short-sleeve LOFT Outlet cardigan because my other black sweaters are too bulky, and since it was cold that meant I needed a black layering long-sleeved tee underneath that. The belt from my City Chic tunic from Tina made another appearance, and I finished the outfit with my little-worn grey triple-strand pearls.

It was so early and still so dark when I left for work this day (Wednesday, I think), that the camera actually used the flash for the first set of pictures. Ha! I much prefer natural light, even if it is still dark. At least I don't have to worry about the sun in my eye anymore!