the art of dressing

dear dress,

how are you? i hope you like your new home. everywhere you look, the necessity of florals for spring is being shouted from the rooftops. but i can't help but always thinking about miranda priestly's scathing assessment of a seemingly obvious seasonal fashion trend:

poor unassuming magazine staff member: well, they're showing a lot of florals right now, so i was thinking -
miranda priestly: florals? for spring? groundbreaking.

this isn't to say that liberty florals a la luella aren't lovely, and that i don't want to try them out, but i wanted to make my first spring '08 floral experience something.. different.

and then there was you. hanging on the 1960s rack at history one fine day, with a reasonably priced $38 price tag, i had to have you. the caption on the back of the tag sealed the deal:

"She was so struck by the way Paco Rabanne's sleek, sexy dresses could spice it up for Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road. Maybe this little number - a real departure from her day-to-day - would be just the thing for her big night out."





paco rabanne? audrey hepburn? two for the road? i knew it was fate. but it seemed it wasn't meant to be. in the fitting room, i learned that your lining was absolutely wrecked, torn to pieces, and i couldn't bring myself to pay full price and then shell out the extra time, effort, and money necessary to make you wearable. i left the store a little broken up and downtrodden.

but i couldn't stop thinking about you, and i called a few days later to inquire after you. was there any chance that a dress in your condition might be marked down? the woman on the phone already knew exactly what dress i was talking about, and it had just been marked down that day. i dropped everything and trekked back to the store. our reunion was short but sweet: you had to be repaired and it was going to take five days at the tailor.

and now, here we are together at last. as soon as the weather permits, or maybe even before, you and i are stepping out. you undoubtedly fall into the category of florals, but you make it seem fresh and new, with wide brushstrokes and eye-opening colors.. a simultaneously childish and poignant, but truly innovative take on the trend. you, my dear, pop.

yours,
roxanne