An Ordinary Day at the Home Office

 
As previously discussed on this blog, as recently as last week, I set some Spending Guidelines at the start of the pandemic that were intended to make my Pan-Spend meaningful (supporting artists and small businesses) and rational (not much need for new clothes to wear to the home office), without allowing unintended consequences to go unaddressed (cannot let JCrew go out of business!). As a result, the Spending Guidelines have had a lot of special rules and exemptions.

 
 
 
For instance, there has been a special rule for The RealReal and an exemption for past-season Marni dresses that I remember from “the first time ’round” — i.e., when they were new and full-price. If I’ve carried a dress in my mind for years, doesn’t that mean something?
 
Admittedly, this rule does not serve any larger purpose than my own entertainment.
A sensible exemption!

And it goes with my black sandals! Sort of
 
 
 
Thusly, this fun dress — which I had seen years earlier, during its first run on the market — came into my life last summer.
 
Perhaps you are looking at this dress and thinking that it is too much for working at home. That may be. But, the way I see things, I feel better when I look better. And wearing something pretty or fun always makes me feel better — much better — than wearing something unflattering or worn-out.
 
This is not to say that everything in my closet was unflattering and worn-out at the time I bought this dress . . . You can see how the Guidelines started to sprawl.

 
 
 
This dress works for WFH because it’s loose. It fits perfectly through the neckline and shoulders, but is boxy through the body.
 
I’ve made it less boxy — but not form-fitting — with a belt.
More boxy than form-fitting

 
 
 
Here it is without the belt.
 
I am sure you are quick to spot the dilemma here. The belt partially obscures the charming detail (extra silver and yellow stripes) at the waist.
 
The Photographer and I took photos of this dress last summer with a silver belt and silver shoes, but now we cannot find them. I tell you this only to give you a sense of the options.
A trompe l’oeil belt gives definition but not shape, possibly makes waist look bigger

These guidelines will never be reduced to writing because written in black-and-white . . . they may look even crazier than they sound when described in bits and pieces.
 
At what point do the exceptions swallow the rule, Directrice?
“”I before E” is still standing, isn’t it?

 
 
This dress is highly Zoomable. In addition to the colorful, oversized windowpane check, a multi-layered ruffle appears in the frame.
Show them the ruffle!

 
 
 
The fabric is laser-cut, not hemmed, and the folds allow both the “right” and “wrong” sides of the fabric to show. That’s attitude.
Full of Zoomitude (def. in a state of not really caring whether your Zoom colleagues “get” what you are wearing)

8 thoughts on “An Ordinary Day at the Home Office”

  1. That’s a nice dress, it was good you had a rule that allowed its’ purchase.
    It looks like something that could easily run from late Summer into early Fall, and we have a long Fall season.
    If I were wearing it with a jacket/sweater that worked with the torso stripe -is that a light grey tone?- I might forgo the belt, so the strip/jacket combination would play out properly.

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  2. Such a fun dress in a cheerful color! And I’m digging the Directrice’s lipstick. New shade? It sets off the orange pattern nicely. (I was thinking of this pattern as “tipsy gridlines,” but “windowpane check” is more sophisticated.)

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  3. The happiness shows right away in your great smile! The waist detail still shows with the belt, so you really get the best of both worlds there. The dress looks so fresh and crisp, yet also super comfortable. The color and fabric seem like an A+ for spring/summer/fall. Definitely a worthy exception to the Spending Guidelines.

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  4. I love how Zoomable the dress is. So little of our outfits show on Zoom we must make the most of the bits that do appear.
    Like you, I have a pandemic spending plan that would sound crazy if I described it in detail, plus I make much of it up as I go along. Because things change. This is my first pandemic.
    The craziest part may be that I had budgeted to do a lot of international travel in 2020 and 2021. But it looks like that travel will be a single two-week trip later this month to NY (I’m the one who lives in Mexico). So I’m giving myself permission to spend as much of the two-year travel budget as I feel like on two glorious weeks in NY. Especially sweet because during the many years I lived in NY I had a mortgage and was on a tight budget.

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    • You’ll be spending like a Keynesian economist during Fleet Week! NYC is fun on a budget but so much more fun with some money to spread around. Have a fantastic week!

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