57 Days of Dresses, a retrospect (part 1 of 8)

    As the final day of 57 Days of Dresses approaches, I've realized that there's things about this project I'm going to miss, and there's things about this project I'm not going to miss too much. One thing I'll miss is an excuse to wear my dress wardrobe--which, by the way, has expanded to 91 dresses since the inception of this project--and not wear only my favorite pieces. One thing I won't miss is finding locations to take photos, but I'll miss seeing the wonder and beauty in the random, the wild and the mundane. The serendipity of wearing each dress and learning that I don't really like it has allowed me to clean out my wardrobe some, and I might even make a substantial downsize. I even learned that I love sweatpants!
    So, before presenting my last dress, I feel that a full retrospect is in order. So here we go, in celebration of the uncomfortable, the restrictive, the oppressive, the liberating, the beautiful, the empowering, the dress.

The seminal Dress Day 1: A vintage a-line mini that I still have. I went to the Is She Weird, Is She White show that night. Oddly enough, considering this Pixies tribute band took its name from a Pixies song, the band didn't play that song during their set.

 Dress Day 2 on my Nashville apartment balcony. That aloe vera plant of mine has pretty much turned into an overgrown weed in a pot that sends out shoots of new aloe plants at any chance. I love that plant, and I love this dress, and still have it.

Dress Day 3 was a lazy day. Honestly, I don't think I left my apartment at all that day. Still have this one, too

On Dress Day 4 I used my dented-up old van as a prop. Interestingly, many people who saw this thought someone really did hit my van recently. Six years ago Jason hit a parking lot pole when leaving my apartment in Arizona. I do still have this tender little mini

Dress Day 5's photos were taken in front of this massive rosemary bush in the back of Gojo. On a side note, Gojo is the best Ethiopian restaurant in Nashville, and I hope it's there forever. I do still have this dress.

Dress Day 6 was a quickie before heading off to the Scene. At the time, I just started interning there and I was very excited! I don't have this dress anymore, but Jason still has this guitar.

Dress Day 7 was the Psychedelic Furs show at the Cannery Ballroom. They played "Talk Talk Talk" in its entirety. It was awesome. According to the bassist, Tim Butler, the Furs get a lot of their influence from Roxy Music and the Sex Pistols. I do still have this awesome dress.

Day 56 of 57: Ring my bell

    On day 56 of 57 Days of Dresses Jason and I had a lazy day of rock 'n' rollin' at home. Jason and I had an awesome time jamming on some improv rock 'n' roll riffs. I was feeling like a pussycat and totally missing the stage. I can't wait to start playing shows again. I got a new mirror pickguard for my bass, and it shines the light of rock 'n' roll right in your face. Mirror, mirror, on my bass, who's got the prettiest face? Just teasing!

You can see my reflection!

   After an afternoon of music, we went for a drive in the country and found this quaint ole' bell house with lush, green ivy vines climbing its stone face.
      This is by far one of the most amazing vintage dresses I have in my wardrobe, and I got this at Diamond Star Halo Vintage, located inside of Fanny's House of Music in Nashville, Tenn. This midi-length, spaghetti-strap party dress is rather striking with its alternating red and white chevron striped bodice and red polka-dot skirt. The the dropped V-shaped waistline is form-fitting to the hips and the skirt, which has an attached crinoline petticoat, flares out nicely.The decollete bodice zips in the back, and has a sweetheart neckline.
     I have this dress paired with a rhinestone collar to showcase my decolletage, a hair bow, vintage white earrings, my trusty chucks and red socks with white polka-dots. To offer a splash of contrast, I'm also wearing my solid blue hoops in my upper ears and solid blue sunglasses.

Day 55 of 57: Rummage me this

    On day 55 of 57 Days of Dresses I had a afternoon of rummaging with Jason and our friend Emily. Our first rummage was at the "Really, Really Free Market" at Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville.
    What a disappointment.
    The premise of the event is great in theory; it's essentially a public swap meet that's held the last Saturday of every month. However, in practice, it became an stunningly pungent, unorganized pile of old, dirty clothes with the sparse remnants of Asheville's Occupy movement holding a rather confused General Assembly, foul-smelling faux-hippies picking through some underwear, and a bearded woman discussing the latest extremist feminist trends with a glamorous tranny queen. Emily did find a cool Jawbreaker band tee. Besides that, we promptly scrapped up the bits of our dignity we had left after about five minutes of subjecting ourselves to the stench and found a bathroom to wash our hands. Jason didn't participate in the dirty clothes rummage, needless to say.
     Next on the agenda was looking for a birthday gift for Jason's father. Emily recommended the Lexington Avenue Antique Mall. This place is huge! From the outside it looks like a small shop, but the store expands into a supermarket sized space.
    We spent a good two hours poking around, and decided to leave after Jason and I started having a sensory overload from the amass of stuff in there. The was an impressive inventory of vintage clothes, and quite a bit looked reasonably priced. I'll have another visit, and soon.
    After an oddly fruitless trip to the antique mall, We went to Karen Donatelli Cakes on Haywood Ave. to enjoy some absolutely delicious desserts. I'm a huge fan of French macaroons, and the bakery had chocolate macaroons and raspberry macaroons. Yum! Jason got a  German chocolate cake ball, and there was a gluten-free flourless chocolate tort that Emily was able to thoroughly enjoy.
    We parted ways with Emily and head to Black Mountain in continuance of our search for the perfect birthday gift, and we found it! Happy birthday, Waymon!
    Our last order of business was a photo shoot by the old red truck.
    I got this 1980s vintage dress at Local Honey in Nashville, Tenn. It's a very comfortable, slouchy, dropped-waist cotton tennis-style dress. The ruffled skirt has two layers that have a nice bounce to it. The bodice has a paint swatch pattern that's quintessential '80s design.
    This simple dress is a great springtime piece for daytime activities, and looks great with or without accessories--I think with this dress less is better. I have it paired with some other authentic '80s pieces: a pair of denim pumps and an over-sized fish barrette straight from my mother's boxes of her old clothes from the '70s and '80s (I remember her wearing these when I was, like, five years old), and a great vintage patchwork leather purse I picked up a a vintage boutique. Now if there was only a New Order concert sometime, somewhere soon! I can always dream!