I’m a jeans and tee shirt kinda gal. During the summer, I’m a shorts and tee shirt kinda gal. I do have some summer-thrift-store dresses I trot out when it’s hot (like today) because the bottom line for me: it’s gotta be low maintenance. I won’t bother to insist that I’m low maintenance In General – my diet alone would make Mother Theresa cry – but when it comes to clothes, I hate spending more than 5 minutes of thought on an outfit. The cornucopia that is my closet is damn near completely color coordinated so I can grab this and that and just go already. My inner ugly fat girl is part of this, I know, and I choose to make the experience as painless as possible.
However, there are times when a special event is coming up and I need something nice, and that’s where this dress came in. I bought it on sale (duh) at a little boutique for about 70% off, but still paid a bit more than I usually spend. I even had it tailored, thinking I’d nabbed an awesome go-to dress. But when I got it home, I couldn’t get Madeline out of my mind, and it always seemed a bit too dressy for just going to Trader Joe’s or the post office.
But not today. I stopped waiting for special occasions a long time ago. I use the nice dishes for lunch, drink water from goblets, and wear bling with tee shirts. Today, I am wearing this dressy dress all day, wherever I happen to go, because I can. I am a grown up and if I want to completely overdress on a gorgeous Palm Sunday afternoon for a trip to the laundromat, then I will do so. What the hell is the fun of having a dressy outfit if you don’t create the occasion to wear it?