Smile Collector

The next six weeks aren’t going to be easy, Directorate. But I’ve looked into it and no reputable doctor will put you into a medically induced coma just to escape election-related stress.  So I am going to offer the next best thing: more frequent Directrice posts for the next few weeks. OK? We’ll get through this together.

We’ll close out summer and talk about early fall.

Often I find myself in the first two weeks of September trying to wear all the summer clothes that didn’t make it out of the closet in July and August. I don’t have a strict wear-or-eliminate policy, but I do like to make sure everything sees the light of day before the seasons change.

This Tove dress had been patiently waiting its turn.

The heavily gathered bodice — a Tove signature — is a simple construction that Tove produced in cotton poplin (like mine) and a silk gazar. The silk might have been a better choice (lighter, more pliable fabric), but who could resist this unbelievable, saturated color?

I could not resist

What to wear with an intense yellow dress? I thought shiny black sandals and this red toile bag
What’s that? Come again?

Did someone say, “This looks familiar . . .”

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but when I bought this Tove dress, I had totally forgotten about the other saffron dress in my closet.

I don’t know how I forgot about it. I didn’t remember it until months later. They were hung  in different closets, you see, and somehow . . . somehow . . . I forgot.

Even I know that no one needs TWO saffron yellow dresses. But as I told you in 2018: Everyone smiles at a lady in a bright yellow dress. So perhaps having two is no bad idea.

You forgot? Allow me to refresh your memory

Santiago 2018
Buenos Aires 2019
An apt portrait of The Directrice

I will note that the fit of the Tove dress is more forgiving than the Sea dress. With the passage of Six years + One Pandemic, I need that understanding.

As mentioned in a previous Tove post, the skirt of this dress was two layers of poplin. With a circle skirt, it was an insane amount of fabric — weight and volume — so I removed the under-layer. The fabric is opaque and substantial enough for a single, unlined layer to suffice.

The fit through the bust is a little bloopy, for lack of a better, real word. A few too many pleats look a little sloppy, but for now I am content to leave it be. Maybe next summer.

I really did forget

That doesn’t seem possible . . . nevertheless

 

I must admit that when I stumbled across the original yellow dress, I was aghast. It was a cue the Psycho soundtrack moment. It’s one thing to own six very different black jackets and quite another to own two summer dresses in the exact same distinctive shade.  And to have bought the second one without remembering the first?  I wondered if I was suffering from some form of cognitive impairment. Person Woman Man Camera TV?

Do you ever have moments like that?

Not going to overthink this
Just going to twirl my way through it

8 thoughts on “Smile Collector”

  1. I think it’s a lovely idea to own two saffron yellow dresses, especially when they suit you so well. They do have a different vibe going on, Tove is more carefree and the other is slightly more restrained, if one can say that of a bright yellow dress 😉

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  2. I’m not sure even you can distract us from the hellscape of this election season, but it will be delightful to have more posts from you!

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  3. Yes, I have experienced these distressing moment of amnesia.
    And I agree with everyone who says yes to the two yellow dresses. They have different styles! Different implications! And they are so cheery!

    And I thank you for upping blog production during this ridiculous time. We need distractions!

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