As the end of the year is drawing to a close, I can’t help but look back on the frenzy of this past year and try to make sense of it. To try to connect a jumble of seemingly random events and wonder why they brought me to this particular moment – and where they’ll bring me to next. It’s definitely been a year of ups and downs (as most years are). Whether you believe in fate or the randomness of the universe, there is still something stringing it all together. Something invisibly connecting the dots.
Given my deep and prophetic mood, I thought it was the perfect day to don this amazing 1950’s dress from Capsule Vintage, faded from black to a deep eggplant over time, whose ombre pattern of polka dots grows and changes and shifts and almost disappears entirely. I love finding perfect day dresses like this one that seem to tell a story. And in buying and wearing her, I can give her at least one more chapter.
I wonder sometimes if I’m so obsessed with collecting vintage because I can’t handle the ending of a story. I am actually depressed when a book or tv series ends and usually end up devouring sequels, even if they’re really really bad, just because I get to dance with the characters for a little while longer. There’s even a sadness when the curtain inevitably falls at the ending of another year, because, try as I might, the year never looks the same in retrospect as I thought it might when the year was all shiny and new.
We are like islands in the sea,
separate on the surface
but connected in the deep.
William James
Today’s my last day of work before the holidays officially begin! Miraculously, I have somehow managed to tick all of the Very Important things off of my list. It’s always so satisfying to get to a point where you feel as though a holiday is warranted, without anything hanging over your head. I have a lot planned for the break, including attacking my wardrobe and doing a ruthless closet cleanout. Yes, you heard me correctly. (I figure by posting it on the blog, I’m setting it in stone and therefore am holding myself accountable). I’ll keep you posted – letting go of vintage is like letting go of family, but there is something special about passing her on to the next leading lady in her life.
And maybe it’s another thread that connects us all – whether we share memories, a common passion, or a garment that has been well worn and loved and passed through generations, I love the idea that we are in some way connected, despite our the zillion ways that make us different. That seeing beauty in the same things or laughing at the same moment, even miles apart, creates an invisible thread that makes us feel less alone.
So perhaps this dress is the ingenue and in adding a chapter to her story, I get to feel connected with the woman who wore her before me and the one who might wear her after me. To ensure her story doesn’t have to end. At least not yet. And maybe those dots can stretch across a few miles and years, transverse Ocean basins and transcend time, and weave together a pattern that will one day make sense.
Is the past year making sense to anyone else yet? Cause I’m still waiting….
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: Capsule Vintage (similar modern or vintage here, here, here & here)
Necklace: Gift from my Mr. (similar here & here)
Belt: ASOS (similar here & here)
Handbag: Isabella Fiore, thrifted (similar here & here)
Crinoline: Malco Modes
Shoes: Shelly’s London (similar here, here & here)
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