We got the happy news the other day that our friends had got engaged, and with that happy news came an almost immediate urge to jump onto Net-a-Porter and The Outnet to find a dress for the wedding. A wedding that has not yet been planned, to which I have not yet been invited, and which may not even happen in a way which requires me to wear a dress – who knows, maybe they’ll elope? Stranger things have happened.
So I haven’t bought a new dress, obviously, and I think the dearth of occasions in my life that are glad rags worthy is evident. Because I love a good party dress – don’t you? But as I have found, people in their late 30s with small children who live in the country just don’t have that many occasions to dress up.
There have been a handful of opportunities over the last few years – a couple of weddings, a big business anniversary, etc. There have been even more events that didn’t call for anything particularly spectacular, dress-wise, but to which I have leaned in regardless – a party of two, Christmas Days, a trip to the ballet or dinner at a slightly upscale restaurant. Such is my MO. I like pretty clothes and I like to feel pretty. I tend towards the overdressed given even the slightest hint of an occasion. And I am wildly impractical sometimes. Despite my adoration of the spectacular I am to be found in jeans, shorts or a casual, easy dress most days of the week. Despite this I struggle mentally with spending on these basics – I do it and almost never regret it, but it’s not easy – yet I have some truly amazing, not inexpensive pieces in my wardrobe that just sit there, being beautiful in the confines of that dark space.
Yet I don’t regret them, either. They carry such memories and just looking at them makes me happy. Glad rags indeed. Here are some of my favourites from over the years…
The Judd Crew 