Thursday, 23 November 2023

"If you love something, wear it all the time." Vivienne Westwood

We have a formal event on the weekend. My go to outfit for this kind of dress code is my wedding dress. The last time I wore it was 2019  and the intervening years of lockdown eating and menopause have not been kind. My bodyshape has changes.

I read somewhere that the ideal weight is the one when you stop worrying about it, so I've tried to think like that (or not think, more accurately) but when I tried on the dress is was very tight and looked curvy in all the wrong places. 

I do have a back up outfit that looks okay, but I think I'll stick with the dress (unless I catch a glint of horror in my husband's eye - he would never say I look terrible straight to my face, but the thought might sneak across his face). I'll try to chanel the confidence of these ladies, and the great lesson I learnt that night becuse the dress is so beautiful and it might just be the last time I get to squeeze into it.

I am hoping the luxury of wearing the dress, it's beauty and the magic of the all the memories woven into it's material is enough to carry me with confidence and more importantly, feel beautiful.

It holds not just the day of our wedding, 24 years ago but a dinner on the Eastern Oriental train on our honeymoon, countless nights of merriment at Mayorall Balls, wearing it to a formal dinner when newly pregnant and smiling at the sheen of the curve in the velvet on my previously flat belly, dancing the night away to great music with at a family wedding, and most recently, wearing it after a long hiatus at another wedding and feeling so very happy it still fit.

I will be sad when it no longer fits, as it's as beautiful as it first was, and timeless in style and looks brand new. 

So wish me luck that I can enjoy the dress on the night. For that is what this dress is made for. To feel beautiful and to party....

“Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them” - Marc Jacobs


Do you have clothes that are special to you?

Linking with    #FineWhatever








13 comments:

  1. I rarely dress up, the last time may have been a wedding?
    I am sure you will look beautiful! Take care, have a great day and happy weekend.

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  2. It certainly is a beautiful dress. I think you should strive to be able to wear it again in another 4 years. I hope you have a most enjoyable weekend and you get many compliments.

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  3. I really like the idea of re-using clothes that we like. People who knows me well know that I only have a few outfits. I like to like all the clothes in my wardrobe. I do not have a big wardrobe but I wear all the clothes in it on a regular basis. Enjoy your upcoming event.

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  4. Lydia, I buy clothing I love and keep it and wear it forever. Much of my wardrobe is 20 or 30 years old. A few years ago I could no longer justify keeping in my small closet a dress I wasn't going to wear, and I finally gave it away. I had bought it when I was 19! It was still beautiful, it still fit me, but it no longer suited me ("mutton dressed as lamb"). I hope you'll enjoy wearing your beautiful dress for many more years!

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  5. I'm so impressed that 24 years on you can get into this beautiful dress ... love the memories that go with it.

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  6. Wear that dress. If you wore it that long ago and you can still get it on, then wear it. It's beautiful.

    Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. ♥

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  7. Wear it, and remember all those wonderful occasions! I used to keep things for 'good' and no longer have reasons to wear them...what is that about? Denyse #wwwhimsy

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    1. My mum was a big 'for good' person - clothes, dinnerware, all sorts of things. As a result I'm the other way - wear it/use it and if it breaks, at least you enjoyed it.

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  8. It looks beautiful and you love it so just go for it. Maybe wear some shapewear for some extra confidence if needed. Fitting into a dress 24 years down the track is super impressive!! Thank you for linking up with #WWWhimsy Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

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  9. Enjoy the beautiful dress, Lydia! Thanks for the great quotes too.

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  10. Yes I do have clothes that hold special meaning and I try to keep it as long as I can unless it becomes tattered beyond repair. At least it was well-loved.

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