My friends, we're ending the year on an unexpected success: I made a dress. A for real, wearable dress.

I've had "learning to sew" on my to-do list for years, due to a generous gift from a former coworker, but having no idea how to turn on, let alone thread a sewing machine, is a big hurdle. Especially because I know me - the show and tell of someone showing me how to use the machine was always going to be far superior than reading instructions or watching a video.

So, fast forward and I manage to convince my friend to venture into DC. And after a few false starts and learning to wind a bobbin and such, I decided to do that thing you never do: jump into a project way too advanced for you (god forbid I just like, make a pillow case or something). For years I'd been watching Annika Victoria on YouTube, and the way she explains things is just so damn logical. It makes almost every project seem manageable. So I took my theory from this video on copying a dress, and decided to make a version of an Urban Outfitters dress I bought over the summer. Because while I knew that the skirt layers might be moderately difficult, the bodice shape was simple and easily transferred to paper.

And then, impressing even myself, I was SUCH AN ADULT, and made the pattern, a full mock up, and then pre-washed AND IRONED the final fabric. That I so graciously received from my sorority sister when she was in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And nearing the finish line I also decided last minute to put in a side zipper (slightly shoddily by hand, we won't discuss the work I need to do on my back stitch). I'm too impatient to wait for the season it's intended for, so please excuse the slightly formal styling. My final plan is to wear this with sandals in a super casual way, but hey, at least it admirably performs double duty?

Also, no, before you ask there aren't any pockets in this dress but let's not ask for the moon and stars ok? Double layers of gathered skirt that I cut into to insert a zipper was as much as my heart could take. The original didn't have pockets either LMAO.

Apparently I don't shoot enough all white outfits to remember how difficult it can be to do in shadow. Hopefully none of you are blinded, because I had to turn the ISO down on my camera a couple notches to even get this much detail.

Regardless, this is a dress I picked up in February and absolutely love how it looks - with or without the belt. It's so clean and crisp, and after a quick run of my steamer, an absolute joy to wear. Ok well, an absolute joy besides the fact that I have to put it on before makeup, because I find it almost impossible to pull on (it goes over the head)  without touching some part of my face.

Let us talk about how specific items can become more than my brain can handle. I've wanted a gray sweater for a while. After buying the G.H. Bass one in two colors I was positive that I couldn't justify another turtleneck. I had the star one right? That should be enough.

And yet, despite all the mental gymnastics, I couldn't stop wanting one. There's something about a long sleeved turtleneck that I just love, and after finally trying on everything I could find this month I came back to this one. On sale, the wrong size, but a piece I'd seriously contemplated at the beginning of the season. Thankfully the closet gods were smiling down on me, because this fit and it's super warm, and will easily serve me for years (especially as I've already been playing with layering it over some of my longer button downs). 

So there you go. No matter how many closet resolutions I try to make, or minimalist mantras I repeat to myself, sometimes I just need 3 long-sleeve turtleneck sweaters.




Fit Note: This sweater is currently sold out online (it went on sale a while ago) but I just bought this in-store so you may still be able to get your hands on it. It also runs bigger than even I had suspected and I'm wearing a size small here - other than a little lost length when I raise my arms, it fits perfectly. Weird but true.

I'm still in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to my wardrobe, and what I want to wear, so each outfit post seems to be a bit more difficult than usual, lol. Here's a look at some oldie-but-goodie, pieces, including the booties whose awesomeness I always seem to forget. And hey - clean hair! 2 steps back, 1 step forward.

I thought before we all (myself included) forgot what I looked like in anything other than jeans and sweaters I should probably put in a bit more effort here on the ol' blog. It's weird because I'm typically *such* a Fall/Winter person, but this year I'm just not feeling it. Thankfully this dress is so soft that it mostly feels like I'm walking around in a full length sweatshirt, so it's easier to convince myself to wear it.

I'd never actually done the hidden belt trick before this outfit, and while I liked the different silhouette, I think I might try it with other dresses in the future, because I had to fidget a bit more than I would like to get everything to lay correctly.

Since I don't what else to do or say about the state of things at the moment, and as crass as it feels, here's an outfit post. I took the pictures before everything went to hell last week and while we're still working on deciding where to go from here I figured it couldn't be totally wrong to share something that makes me happy.