An Experiment

[akirlu]

I've got a big trip coming up in August, so of course I'm all about the clothes right now. At the same time, Seattle has been enduring a prolonged heat wave (which in any city where air conditioning was reliably a thing would be called "a perfect summer"): temperatures into the high eighties or low nineties. We're all melting. No, not kidding. Seattle makes weather wimps of us all. So I'm all about the airy, cool clothes. Over the weekend, I finally dragged out the last two storage bins of off-season clothes to discover all the cottons and linens I had been desperately missing this past week. Now I've got a towering pile of ironing to do, because linen. I also went consignment shopping at Two Big Blondes with Mary Kay who's in town for a week, to find more summer weight pants and skirts. So naturally I ended up mostly with tops and a jacket. But also one skirt and one pair of pants.

While we were near the I-District we also had brunch, which turned out to be dim sum by candlelight, because the power was out in the whole area but the dim sum restaurant we had picked was still serving what items they already had steamed up. It was a bit surreal, especially walking through the darkened, echoing mall to get to the restaurant -- that part felt a bit like being in a zombie movie. And the restaurant didn't have any tea lights, just taper candles, and ours kept toppling over on its saucer. Luckily, we managed not to burn the restaurant down.

But what I really wanted was a nice wide-flared skirt or dress for traveling days, but with pockets. I can't cope with not having pockets when I travel, but there's nothing quite so free and breezy on a hot day as a skirt. I didn't see anything that fit the bill at 2BB, but lately I've been looking online at the clothes at eShakti, who make semi-custom clothes. I like a lot of their cuts and prints, and virtually all their dresses come with pockets automatically, and often let you to modify the neckline or sleeve style to suit. And today I noticed that they were holding a 35% off summer clearance, so I finally broke down and ordered a dress. It looks like it should be just the thing to be comfortable yet attractively dressed, and it has pocketses! If this works out as well as I hope, then I guess I'm building my trip wardrobe around black, white, and red, but it's no bad thing to sort out the palette early so I can figure out what does not need to come along. Will report back later on the dress.

Comments

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

That dress is the bomb!

Pockets. yes. More pockets!!!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, it looks fab, doesn't it? I've ordered it with a boat neckline instead, but otherwise as you see. I love that print to pieces. I'm such a sucker for black/white graphical prints, and I'm very hopeful that this will be just the thing to anchor my travel wardrobe for the UK/Ireland/Belgium trip.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

That is a delightful dress. It should make an excellent anchor piece of your wardrobe.

I'm not sure how I ended up with so much navy, but I'm happy because some years navy is impossible to find. I still have the vexed question of which shoes to take, but I have tried on everything I want to take and it fits, so that's good. Wish I had more than one dress, though.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about finding navy. My navy double-breasted linen blazer is frayed and in sad need of replacement but I've yet to find the right thing. A summer-weight navy blazer, ideally with gold buttons, is one of those hyper-Swedish wardrobe staples, in my mind. With a white blouse and blue-and-white striped peasant skirt it's crisp and fresh and goes absolutely anywhere. Admittedly it's a look that's best when pulled off by very tan Nordic blondes of a certain age, and all I have is the age.

And shoes are usually the vexed question when packing, at least for me. All they have to be is comfortable, versatile, lightweight, easy to pack, and able to go with everything. But if I stick to red/white/black then I think I have it nailed: red sandals, black ballet flats, and red leather boat shoes. Lucky for me, the red Land's End shoes historically wind up being among the ones on deepest discount at the end of a season. Sadly, not the adorable red wedges this year. Or at least, not in my size. I comfort myself that they probably wouldn't have been comfortable anyway.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

I've been starting to think about trip packing myself, which became more difficult once I looked up the average temps in Dublin while we're there - for August, it's a temperate 66.2F rather than the warmer summer temps I was expecting

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Hmm. So it seems. With similar things predicted for London and (relevant to me) Bruges. It is, of course, early days yet for predictions to be very accurate but I confess I'll be tickled if that's what we get. I can just add back a cardigan and some long-sleeved shirts and it should be perfect.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I love eShakti! However, I hope someone warned you that there is zero ease...the measurements on the website are not the body but the clothing.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Er. No, I was not warned about that. Luckily (I hope) I opted for a size up from actual, which should allow for at least some ease. Fingers crossed.