Brace yourself ladies, for you are about to meet one of the most amazing dresses ever to grace my closet. The kind of dress that makes the day a bit brighter, makes your heart beat a bit more quickly, and makes a Tuesday feel like the most perfect, endless Saturday. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The dress you never knew your life was incomplete without. The feeling of coming home.
I‘ve been thinking a lot about ‘home’ lately – about knowing you belong somewhere. Having traveled around a fair bit, we’re so lucky to have so many places (and cities and countries) we call home. I suppose there’s always the transition – getting used to a new place and its new customs. But then there’s almost an imperceptible shift, when you go from being a visitor, bumping into the unfamiliarity of it all, to moving seamlessly through a place. Where you claim somewhere as your own.
Thanks to the soft pastel-striped hues of this vintage rainbow dress, I’ve been humming “Over the Rainbow” merrily all day. And it got me thinking about Dorothy and Toto and their adventures. How she would gaze into the horizon and imagine a world better than what she had, dreaming of what lay beyond her comfort zone. And through a series of crazy events, she found herself thrown into rather harrowing trials and tribulations, ultimately realizing that there really was no place like home.
But here’s the thing: I think she’s better for her adventures. Sure, she ended up back at home, where she started. But, she went out into the world, got a bit lost and made a few poor choices. She had to experience gut-wrenching fear and confront her demons, get drugged in a field of poppies and wake up with her first real hangover, and face up to a hero she emulated not living up to her expectations. But, she also made friends with people from backgrounds she was once likely sheltered from, broadened her horizons, and acquired some seriously enviable footwear. Maybe she ended up realizing that where she started was where she belonged – but it became an active choice, rather than a passive inertia. Sometimes we have to go forth and have adventures, before realizing home was where we belonged all along.
I mean, there’s nothing like thinking you were going to lose your favorite shoes to really put things into perspective….
Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
Lord Byron
Speaking of finding your way home, I hope some beauties from my Closet Sale found their way into your wardrobes! It was hard at first to let go of pieces I once loved (and I had more than a few moments of wanting to scoop everything back up an race into my closet to never speak of letting them go again). But, I found it brought me indescribable joy to help them find their next companion. As my lovely friend Jessica tells me – it’s about helping them find the next woman to cherish them.
So, I’m going to click my heels twice and head off to where I belong today – namely, work. We have a few big, stressful Uni-wide meetings today about all of the Big, Important Happenings. Needless to say, the funding climate in Australia is a bit tenuous and everyone is on edge. Would it be bad if I took a leaf out of Dorothy’s notebook and brought a few poppies in with me, so I could conk out at the scary bits?? Perhaps not…
Fine, over the rainbow I go!
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: When Decades Collide (Almost EXACT same dress here or similar here, here & here)
Headband: Modcloth (similar here & here)
Necklace: Gift (similar here)
Handbag: Mo-Mo’s Vintage (similar here & here)
Shoes: Oh Deer (similar here, here & here)
Lip Color: Nars Schiap
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