BURGUNDY DRESS

WHEN I OPEN MY WARDROBE, besides the usual “I don’t have what to wear” problem, I am also faced with the “I don’t have enough basics” problem. For example, I don’t have a classic white shirt and I don’t even like the only little black dress I own. I don’t have a good neutral colored coat, nor do I own a black bag. It seems that whenever I shop or make clothes, I tend to go for more elaborate designs and vibrant colors.

While I would advise you not to be like me and not to complicate your lazy days by investing in basics, to me they always look boring. I like when clothes come with a character. I love it when you see a piece of clothing, folded or hung, and it screams out to you: “Yes, I am special!”. The problem in my case is that almost every piece in my wardrobe screams that, creating a visual cacophony that leaves me banging my head against the wardrobe door.

Although I would probably have to fix my attitude towards basics if I want to significantly shorten the time spent stressing in front of my wardrobe every morning, I think the best I can do is settle for a golden middle. This dress is that golden middle for me. My main idea when making it was to have a classic long-sleeved dress for colder weather that I can just throw on without worrying about pairing it with a blazer or a cardigan. The design was too simple and too classic to have it in a boring, basic color so I opted for this powerful burgundy fabric instead.

I wore this dress on a casual, completely uneventful day and, just like any basic, it was incredibly easy to pull together in an outfit. What is interesting though, is that wearing a dress on an uneventful day comes with the hazard of people assuming that such a simple piece of fabric represents more than a change in visual aesthetic. I don’t remember wearing a dress and not receiving from someone that narrowed-eyed look complete with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and followed by the sentence “Is today a special day?”

Well…the dress is special and each day of our lives is special by itself so do I really need a special occasion to wear it to? Or, as that sentence is meant to imply, a special someone? Being a fashion devotee, I don’t really need a special occasion to dress up, and being a picky person, I never take the people around me as anything less than special. Sure, I will admit to spending the disproportionately bigger part of the year in jeans or pants which could be the source of that question, but if you open my wardrobe there are four hangers, one for every season, each supporting at least five skirts. That’s not mentioning the skirts that are hung with their own jacket or the skirts that are folded on my shelves. Add to that a full shelf dedicated to dresses since I don’t particularly like hanging them, and you will understand that wearing dresses or skirts has absolutely no special meaning to me besides enjoying the beauty of the piece.

My current situation which requires changing minimum four buses a day while nimbly avoiding a gaggle of pensioners on their free-public-transport days, calls for upmost freedom in movement. That’s why I usually wear pants during the colder months. This dress, however, gives me both warmth and freedom of movement. So excuse me if I don’t keep it locked under countdown until a “special” day arrives.*

Have a nice Tuesday while I go and pick my armor…

It’s pensioners’ free transport day.

*Hugs*

Dilek

ASPIRE HIGHER!

Photography by

Ana Ivanovska

*Well, I sure abused the word “special” today.

P.S. More details about the trench coat I am wearing in the last photo can be found in THIS POST.