My New Favorite: The Annette Dress

So, as you might have guessed.  I intend to do just about everything I said I was not doing with this blog.  Because the point, really, is just to have something to do and some outlet to share what I’m interested in.  And one thing I love is having a New Favorite Anything.  I’m a solid consumer who likes stuff: new stuff, new old stuff, fun stuff, stylish stuff, weird stuff, etc.

My New Favorite right now is a dress.  I love dresses more than any other item of clothing.  Maybe because I suck at separates and casual wear.  Dresses are easy.  Dresses flatter figures.  Dresses make statements.  Though I think the “day dress” and casual dress have seen a resurgence in the last few years, I still know many people who only put on a dress or skirt if its date night or someone is getting married.  I can bemoan the casualization of societal clothing standards another time, but I also like that wearing almost nothing but dresses (at least all week) gives me just that little bit of extra appearance of effort (though I find dresses much lower effort than coordinating several pieces).

Thus, more of my discretionary budget goes to dresses than anything else, since dresses make me happy.  This latest New Favorite made me so happy I wore it twice in one week!  To work on Tuesday, then out to a concert on Friday night.  It’s by FridayOn My Mind, a UK company.  I purchased it on sale from Weekend Doll.  I’d never ordered from that store before, and think I just happened upon them via a link on another blog.  Most of the items there tend toward a more 50’s repro, but the “Annette” dress caught my eye, and the photo of the Catherine Deneuve-esque styled model sold it.  I was quite pleased with the ease of the Paypal transaction and the quick service.  I loved the very British confirmation email I received when my order was “dispatched”.

I am a total sucker for a Peter Pan collar, an easy silhouette, and a geometric print.  I also really dig the color combination.  I’ve been drawn to orange lately, despite how terrible it looks on me, and was into the reddish version here.  I don’t know how faithfully those colors are rendered on digital media, but it’s definitely orange enough that this doesn’t look like something you’d just wear on Fourth of July.

Discovered in this process that there is nowhere really good for taking outfit photos in my house.

The fit is really nice and as easy as I hoped. I'd like a little more nip in at the waist but that's to be expected with this cut. I normally run 16ish in dresses, which can be a wide range depending on the company, but the XL here was just fine.  The only slightly odd bits were a bit of a tightness through the chest (thought I'm not terribly busty for my size) and some sagging 'round the top of the back:

But overall it's a winner.  And I love dresses with pockets!

I am clearly uncomfortable smiling or looking at the camera.

Also doing this I learned that I know nothing about taking blogworthy outfit photos, despite my husband being a pretty good photographer.  I'm just using my regular digital camera here and trying to make do with the crappy lighting in my house at night, but I think the dress comes through anyway.  I'd appreciate any tips on outfit photos from some of you who have a little more experience.

And one more thing--if you're not a dress girl, this comes in a completely adorable top as well!