Two Events, Two Fifty Cent Dresses

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The Directrice attended two fancy professional dinners this summer. One of the dinners was for a professional organization that skews male, older, and conventional.  The other was a fundraising gala for a progressive non-profit.  What to wear, what to wear.

I have a few party dresses in my closet for just such occasions, some of which you’ve seen before: here, here, and here.  But these dinners were opportunities to trot out previously unseen treasures. And, because Your Directrice is feeling a little restless, to shock and awe.

 

Here’s what I wore to the extremely staid dinner: a graphic Maison Margiela dress that makes me look like a visitor who has traveled light years to deliver an urgent message to Earth.

Remember, Directorate: When I go places, I go for all of us.

I felt I owed it to the members of the august body

Also: I do these things so that you don’t have to

 

Don’t panic. I’m not wearing a dress printed with an image of the moon. I have not lost all sense of professional propriety.

It’s an image of a solar eclipse.

And the band around the hem is text describing the event, which happened in 1963, in Courier font.+

 

I don’t have the vocabulary to describe the cut of this dress, but it is ingeniously cut and draped through the bodice and sleeves: no seams.  The fabric is a heavy satin in deep deep blue fading to black. The belt is six inches wide.  All of these things spoke to me when I saw it on YOOX many years ago and I knew that one day I would have the perfect occasion to wear it.

Also suitable for renewal of marriage vows? Handy pockets for anniversary ring

Communicating with home planet

 

I wore something more conventional to the progressive gala because there I had nothing to prove.

Conventional can still be colorful.

Boom!

The dress is made of magic, clearly

 

I found this Mary Katrantzou dress on The RealReal while looking for a different Mary Katrantzou dress (which will be the subject of a future post). Such good fortune!

It’s predominantly a silver, icy blue, with dark blue, green, orange, red, and gold playing out an elaborate pattern of scrolls, poppies, koi fish, and zodiacal figures. After reading the fabric label, I still don’t understand what it’s made of. It has structure and sort of feels like Tyvek? When I take the dress off, it can stand on its own.

 

Can you believe that it fit perfectly?

Almost perfectly. After arriving in Nashville for my event, I decided the bodice was a little loose.  But I was able to fold — like tin foil — and pin the fabric along the placket with a handful of safety pins.

This dress traveled in its own suitcase; you’ll see why in a moment

Full circle skirt deserved its own seat on the plane

 

I didn’t want to crush this epic skirt, so the dress (with accessories) got its own small suitcase. It was a two suitcase trip.

I am engrossed in my own dress; come closer and see
What is all this? What am I wearing?

 

Note how beautifully the pattern lines up at the placket and waist seam. That’s extraordinary dress-making.

This may be my favorite dress ever — and I stumbled across it when I was not looking for a party dress and did not need one.  I think we can agree there’s a lesson in that.

Most fun dress ever

+ Some of you may remember that The Photographer and I traveled to Wyoming to see a solar eclipse in 2017? He went to Texas this year to see another.

The Photographer (center) viewing the eclipse

The Photographer’s photo of this year’s eclipse

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14 thoughts on “Two Events, Two Fifty Cent Dresses”

  4. Both dresses are divine and you look wonderful, but that Maison Margiela dress is out of this world! 😉 And I, too, would like to hear any responses to these at the events.

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  5. I *love* the Maison Margiela dress. I’m not sure if I would have had such a strong reaction to it before I saw my first total eclipse (in April).

    Reply

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