Friday, February 12, 2010

Deep Purple

My friend Erin Fancy Pants gave me this dress a few weeks ago. She’d never worn it. When I failed to wear it to work soon afterwards, she though I didn’t like it.

What’s not to like? It’s a faux wrap with a deep V in the back to match the one in front. It has three-quarters length sleeves. The fabric is a swingy, non-clingy jersey. The print is beautiful and set against a background of deep purple. It’s made by London Times, which sells at Marshall’s and TJ Maxx and produced two of my other favorite dresses of all time.

The delay in the dress’ debut was the length. I don’t generally do below-the-knee skirts. I’m of average height and long-legged, but tend to look stumpy if my knees aren’t exposed. I dreaded hemming this dress because blind stitching a full skirt takes ages, but I finally finished the project this week, after four episodes of What Not to Wear.

Dress, London Times. Cowl-neck vest, Worthington. Blazer, FANG. Tights, We Love Colors. Boots, Nine West.



Are you dying to see the uncovered dress? First you must scroll through pictures of the other layers:

Olive green tights and my beloved cowlneck vest. It’s looking a little tired these days…but I’ve been wearing it since Feb 07.


And…the dress alone. It’s 2.5 inches shorter than it was originally.


22 comments:

Healthy and Homemade said...

You are the queen of layering! I love what you did to make this dress much more modest. And I just love those green tights! YAY for We Love Colors! I finally tried them out, and they're pretty awesome.

Oh, speaking of tights I'm doing a giveaway for a pair of WLC's tights on my blog if you wanna enter ^_^

K said...

Thats a great dress that I can see you getting a ton of use out of. I really like this first version! Hemming a dress can make all the difference.

grace said...

You really are the layering queen. I'm inspired. And I'm a fan of London Times dresses, too.

Alison said...

I think that dress will quickly become a favorite! Very nice!

Anonymous said...

How tall are you!? I read this blog and I have always thought you were super tiny. Like, I'd guess under 5'2"

Laurie Koning said...

I loved all of your outfits this week except for Tuesday's Master Pizza. Ever other day was filled with rich, bold colors in eye-pleasing combinations. I love the jacket from Master Pizza and you've worn the skirt well in the past, but together they clash, and not in a good, "I'd buy that if it were sold in a store" way.

Julia said...

I love this dress too! It looks comfortable and you're styling is great. Olive green works really well with these colors.

xx

me said...

I love how you put this outfit together - the colours look great

maryeb said...

Very cute dress. It looks great on you. I love the pattern of the dress and the layers, scrumptious.

I've done a lot of sewing and I hate hemming too!! I've had projects sit and sit just waiting to be hemmed.

Lorena said...

Great job layering... you are THE master at that.

The Magpie's Daughter said...

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous dress! Well worth the hemming effort. :)

As a person of limited size (5ft 2") I feel your hemming pain! Tee hee!

Adele said...

A really gorgeous dress...I love the pattern. :)

Anonymous said...

That dress is great. I really like how it looks as a skirt too.

Kasmira said...

C Lo - I'm just under 5'5". I read that the average American woman is 5'4".

Kathryn from Schoolmarm Style said...

This whole look is very cute. I feel the hemming pain- especially with that material which I could never even think of bringing anywhere near a sewing machine.

Sheila said...

That is a lovely dress! Good for you for hemming it by hand - very impressive! I am so lazy I just wouldn't bother.

Great layering!

Unknown said...

I'm new to your blog so I thought I would start reading it from teh beginning today and low and behold in your poston Monday, October 09, 2006 called End of Summer Pale you said you loved mid-calf skirts cause you found them flattering on you. I guess you've had a change of heart since you hemmed this dress. lol, this is another tidbit you can add to your end of year recap on how your style has changed and evolved.

loving this blog!

Unknown said...

gosh, i feel like an amazon at 5'7!
i have been reading alot of blogs during my snow days downtime, and would you mind doing an update on good camera techniques? i've noticed alot of fellow bloggers are having "lighting" troubles with all the dark days. Your photos are very well-lit. any tips would be appreciated! your photos appear to have a very strong over head light, too. so many folk enjoy your blog and is it o.k. to direct them to you for photo inspiration? thanks!
and as always you so rock this look!

The Small Fabric Of My Life said...

Are you going to join the Spring Capsule Wardrobe Challenge?

Academichic said...

I love this 'anatomy' of an outfit - the layers are great, such a rich and warm end effect!

Also, I have never seen Let the Right One In, but I'm intrigued! But I'll blame you if I then don't return to those woods for my photo shoots ;)

S

Marie McGrath (The Joy of Fashion) said...

I really love that you added the olive tights. Its such a warm color palette, love it!

www.thejoyoffashion.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Love, love, love it. So cute!