Hump Day Help! The Little White Dress

Its Wednesday again and that means irrepressible hump day style at All Kinds of Pretty. Last week in my desperate shopping spree, I not only bought shoes, I bought a bunch of dresses. The first three were so credulously ill-fitting and awful I refused to even snap a photo of them. Suffice it to say that one of them was a modified halter top TIE-DYE toga dress. Can you even begin to imagine? The other was decent enough – a green floral number whose over-done furbelows I was ready to forgive except that it was really just too short.

The last from Urban Outfitters was gorgeous, cream-colored, racer-back, with netting cut-outs and lace and I LOVE IT but sadly it was way way too tight in the bust. I knew this when I bought it but I bought the damn thing anyway.

However, it appears I was honing in on my ideal dress because the day before my reading, I found the right dress at a local boutique. I present to you: the little white dress.

I wished at first it had a little something more to it – some color at the hem or floral trim at the empire waist. But really, sometimes you shouldn’t screw with simplicity. I love the neckline of this dress, I love the skirt, and I love the fact that you can go crazy with jewelry, or a vibrant colored cami underneath or a crazy pair of shoes.

Plus, as my cousin pointed out when she saw the dress, it is not unlike the dress Maria wore in West Side Story, without the gorgeous red sash. And without me being Natalie Wood. Yes, I think I must be half mad to put a picture of myself next to a picture of Natalie Wood. But fashion makes us do crazy things.

Fashion in a fantasy world

A million years ago, when Sex and the City was in its prime, I used to have viewing parties at my apartment every Sunday night. Cosmos abounded as did commentary on the fashion. The clothes – the wild successes and fall-on-your-face failures — were always the best part of the show. That and the fact that I did once star as an extra in a scene shot at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

So my girl friends and I were eager to take in SATC 2. Though we had managed our expectations about the merit of the film itself, we knew it would be fashion porn. And oh, was it ever. I’ll save you $12.50 (and yeah, I know movies probably cost less outside of NYC but please don’t tell me about it, just like you shouldn’t tell me how you bought your entire five bedroom house for $100K). I’ll save you, and all the readers of All Kinds of Pretty, the price of admission and sneak you some peeks into my favorite fashion from the film.

Because most of the movie takes place in Abu Dhabi, there was lots of drapey-style dresses. Swaths of deliciously-colored silky fabrics flowing and falling in a wildly casual but so-so way. My favorite was this peachy Halston Heritage Stretch Jersey One Shoulder Mini Caftan:

Then there was a duo of pleated Halston dresses which I swooned for – one floor-length orange one which SJP wore on the beach and another, an electric blue stripe cocktail one which she wore in a NYC scene.

If I had an extra couple hundred bucks and no concerns about my children eating and one day gong to college, I’d buy these. Of course then I’d have to retain a personal trainer to get my arms and legs to look like hers so I could actually wear these dresses. And then we’ve lose our apartment and be homeless. So unless these looks show up at Target, edited for the everywoman, I guess I’ll have to go without.

All of these are fairly tame pieces which one could actually wear (in a fantasy world where suitcases full of money were left next to my bed every morning by elves). But there was one outfit that I totally loved which was, I realize, completely ridiculous. It was what SJP wore in the Abu Dhabi karoake scene and it included a gold and silver lame Chanel dress and overskirt which, according to NY magazine cost $47,190 and a pair of bejeweled jeans by the Blonds which cost $4000. It is insane but rocked my socks off:



And there you have it. What the fashionista inside me wears on a Wednesday while I sport my Keens and a floral skirt I bought at Old Navy two years ago. Anyone else see the movie and have any favorite outfits?

Brighten up. Think pink.

It’s raining and gray today in New York City and I am bone tired. Three year-old woke at 2 am for no apparent reason and drove us crazy with a maddening case of “eh eh”ing instead of actually using words to state her nocturnal demands. Then I had a nightmare I stole a warehouse full of couture inspired by traditional Japanese garb but none of it fit me.

Point is: I’m feeling cranky and drab on this already gray day yet I must dig deep to find a way to incite readers at All Kinds of Pretty, who rely on my weekly posts, to reach fashion brilliance. Thankfully, on Mother’s Day, I took the liberty of leaving my family at home and taking a few glorious hours to shop. Which means I have just the shirt to forcibly brighten myself today:

$24.90 from Old Navy. Yes, nothing says "fashion brilliance" like Old Navy. And while we’re on the topic, I feel like I always have to mumble the words “Old Navy” because it doesn’t have the cred of its comparably-priced stores like H & M or even the one-stop-shopping appeal of a place like Target. I am always loath to admit that I sometime shop at Old Navy. But I love this bright pink spring blouse. I am one of those rare women who never outgrew her childhood love of the color pink. Only now that I’m grown, it’s gotta be bright pink, so that my color choice is bold and not just plain odd.

Even fuchsia has its limits as a mood-lifting agent, though. Just look at the expression on my face when I took the picture — 15 minutes late for school, pre-coffee, with the girl screaming about how she hates school and hates shoes and hates breakfast and hates umbrellas. Even pink doesn’t stand a chance against all that.

Double Hump Day Alert

Today I’ve got an extra hump to contend with. It’s Wednesday and an aunt of mine, by the name of Flo, is visiting me. Flo’s a real pain in the ass. Flo makes me cranky. Flo makes me bloated. I don’t feel much like taking big steps fashion forward when she’s in town. I feel like sitting on the couch in a plaid Snuggie, eating Nutella from a Costco sized vat and yelling insulting comments at the TV.

But that won’t do, now will it? What kind of an example would that show my impressionable children? Also, my husband threatened to stop making me coffee in the morning if I kept it up. So this double hump day, I pull my secret weapon out of the closet.

To find out what it is, read the rest at All Kinds of Pretty.

Help! It's Hump Day!

News, readers! Someone finally noticed my incredible ability to find expensive-looking empire-waist clothing at discount prices. That's right, I've been DISCOVERED as a style maven and invited to join a new style blog for moms called All Kinds of Pretty. There are about 14 of us hot mamas blogging about all things fashion-related, mainly the struggle to stay in the style game when you're covered with spit-up, sleep-deprived and only ever interact with people under the age of 5. Lots of different kinds of style, all of it affordable, on real women with real bodies.

I'm running a column called Help! It's Hump Day! about little gems of style that will get you through the miserable sunofabitch stretch of time known as Wednesday.

Today's topic: Eat your heart out, Isadora Duncan. My head may be full of snot but my throat is rocking a Sonia Rykiel jersey scarf!