Anyways, remember how in my last post I talked about the awesome Banana Republic dress I bought after my first day of work? I decided to wear it today just for y'all.
Despite what my facial expression may imply, I feel like a million bucks in this dress. I think it's simple, chic, professional, and -- dare I say it? -- even a little bit sexy. I like to wear it with grey tights and black shoes (oh, if only I owned grey shoes that I could wear to work! Next year, my sweets, next year...). So who here has read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? There's a scene where Francie's colleagues compliment her for wearing an all-grey outfit and she says that her inspiration was from an old show she saw and one of her friends says of her idea, that "it's cute!" I think I've been inspired by that quotation buzzing around in my head for years -- I really like all grey outfits. As y'all know. The girls in the book also joke about Francie being a little Quaker. So this is my version. And I'm not in Brooklyn in the beginning of the twentieth century. Oh, well.
Pretty, right? I love the sleeve length and the folds at the neckline. I wish that its waist were a little more defined. My problem is that I bought this dress a size larger than I really am. However, either I gained weight or Banana Republic thinks that "business wear" is another term for "skanky," because everything in my "actual" size was so. Freaking. Tight. So sometimes I feel as if this dress isn't fitted for me as perfectly as it could be. The big things I would change is the draping over my bum and the folds at the waist.
Let's talk about jewelry. My ornaments today were a silver necklace with a matching bracelet:
Aren't those pretty? (And isn't the dress' subtle pattern pretty rad too?) I love the juxtaposition of the thin strands of silver with the tangled, delicate ball chain. These pieces of jewelry were a gift to me from a boy. Who is not my husband. Awkward. But true. My college boyfriend gave me this necklace/bracelet set as a gift for our two-year anniversary. I assume they're from Amman, Jordan, his hometown.
What are thoughts on wearing gifts from an ex? Pro or con? I don't do it very often -- this ex gave me some extraordinary pieces of jewelry that I used to wear a great deal, but now I wear them less both because I have so much other stuff that I can choose from and my taste has changed a bit and also out of respect for my husband. Then again, I never take off my two most precious gifts from my husband (wedding and engagement rings), so he doesn't have much to complain about. He himself, on our first date, mentioned that he had given his ex-girlfriend some jewelry that he really liked and he hoped that she hadn't stopped wearing it out of bitterness. I mean, my ex has given me a Palestinian keffiyeh that I used to wear constantly, but now I don't because a) Boston is not that liberal and b) because that really is kind of a slap in the face to my husband ["Look! I'm wearing a Palestinian symbol given to me by my Palestinian ex-boyfriend! As clothes! And it's also making a political statement while matching all my clothes perfectly! Don't you love me in it?!"]. But jewelry is kind of fair game in my view. I mean, another ex-boyfriend gave me a necklace that I do. Not. Wear now, because he's a member of a kind of established cult and I'm not and no one needs a reminder of that. Anyways, back to actually classy jewelry... I've winnowed out most of my ex' jewelry from my collection except for the pieces that are really beautiful to me and I wear them sparingly, so... I think I've struck an okay balance.
Back to my dress... I sometimes feel like the stereotypical "sexy librarian" in this, what with the glasses and the retro awesomeness. So remember, kids: stay in school...
Grey dress: Banana Republic
Grey tights: Gap
Black flats: Me Too, by way of DSW, remixed
Silver jewelry: Gift from an ex-boyfriend
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