I Went Clothes Shopping!

Fashion is not a topic that comes up often on this blog, but I went on a major clothes shopping expedition last Saturday and can't resist sharing the fruits of the most shopping fun I've had in a long while. The main purpose was to find a dress to wear for a wedding - Tevye's nephew S gets married tomorrow! - and it needed to be something that would double up for our special celebration holiday in the summer. I can't remember whether I mentioned it before, but we are going on a cruise in August to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary. We have never done anything like it before, and it will definitely require additions to my decidedly non-dressy wardrobe. That meant that as well as a dress for the wedding I was hoping I might find other dresses suitable for formal and semi-formal evenings on the ship.

I have never been a dressy, clothes oriented person, but I have found that a combination of getting older and having teenage daughters has led me to enjoy clothes more than I used to and to be a bit more confident in trying new things. I have also lost weight and being able to shop for smaller sizes was definitely fun! I have gone from a size 16/18 to a comfortable 14 (in US sizing I think that is a 10?), which made me feel a bit more adventurous. Also I was shopping alone, which meant I could take my time and experiment without anyone losing patience!

Here are the results of my successful shopping spree. First, for the wedding, a dress from Monsoon. (I had never bought anything in Monsoon before. They wrap the clothes in tissue paper before putting them into the bag. I felt very upmarket!)

Together with a matching shrug. The colour is called "peacock". I love that!


Then another shop where I have only ever looked, but not bought - it rarely seems to have much above a size 14 in stock. This was Jane Norman, which was very considerately having a 25% off day. This is my "wow" dress for formal evenings on the ship. I can't see any other occasion to wear it in my immediate future, but it was very reasonably priced, and I have never had a dress like this before. Yes. It is very pink. I like pink.



Then continuing the pink theme I found this shift dress in Marks and Spencer. Again it was reasonably priced, and I think I will be able to get quite a lot of wear out of this one. It has a scooped neckline at the back with a bow, and an all-over lacy pattern.




And last but not least, shoes ... Marks and Spencer again. These are surprisingly comfy, and I can wear them with any of the dresses.




Really, these are all very unlike my normal dressing style (casual or smart casual) but I'm actually looking forward to wearing them.