Memories of Two Dresses - Dress #2

 In 1989, I purchased a dress. It was made in Italy, and came from some kind of boutique type store in Markham, and it was designer I suppose. It wasn't my style...way too shiny, fancy and frilly, but for whatever reason (divorce), my whole mindset had changed. It wasn't that I had much money, on the contrary, but this dress spoke to me. 

      It said, "When you get invited to a garden party by the Queen, you'll be prepared."

I never had an expectation of attending such an event, it was just the thought of it I suppose. So I took this stupidly expensive dress home and put it in my closet. There it sat. It moved with me from house to house to house. Whenever I donated or tossed out clothing over the years, I'd look at the dress, put it on, dance around the room, then fold it back up carefully and put it into its now designated box in the closet.

It's hard to believe that thirty five years have gone by. This dress has been around longer than the the method of photography I just used after it occurred to me that I didn't actually have a photo of  this now vintage dress. The Queen was gone. The dress remained unworn in public.

In June of this year, I had an opportunity to attend an outdoor function labelled "garden party". I wracked my brain as to what I would wear. Information describing the party included, fancy attire, hat, gloves if desired. I pulled out the dress. Hence the photo.

It just wasn't quite right...too long, layers of lace making my upper body look wider than it actually is. What to do? Might this be my last opportunity to finally wear it, or option B, did I want to be buried in it and make that the last?

Decision made, I located a tailor in town and described my vision. Of course, my vision cost a fair percentage of the original dress price, but I didn't care. After all, this is 2024 and no longer 1989. She kept commenting on the lovely colour but that didn't get me any kind of discount. Anyhow, it was finally happening. 

I hauled out my silver sandals which thankfully, I had not yet donated, ordered a fascinator from Amazon, and I was ready. Boy was I ready.

The party turned out to be a lot of fun. The weather was hot but the rain held off. I sat with two friends. There was a fashion show, and a fantastic array of food items including a candy bar. Several people commented on my dress. I shall wear it again...on my next birthday, so, if you'll be attending, please pretend you haven't seen this dress before.