Sometimes, I swear I see the world around me like a kind of Rorschach test. You know – the psychological ink blot tests that ask you to describe what you see in a series of swirls and smudges? We do this all the time – people seeing faces in a piece of burnt toast, getting frightened by a pile of clothes out of the corner of your eye that looks like an intruder, or laying on your back in the middle of a field, staring up at the clouds and suddenly seeing creatures created from cumulous before your eyes.
So, considering how “normal” this kind of behavior is, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I see aquatic life everywhere. My clouds were always sea creatures, swimming and swirling across an ocean of azure sky. So when I saw this beauty appear at Timeless Vixen (amazing purveyor of one of a kind vintage pieces and ironically she who sourced my under the sea Marjorie Montgomery), my heart stopped. I’m sure the original intention with the design was a cascade of embroidered flowers. But, me being me, I only saw starfish, lazily moving amongst the seaweed, gracefully finding sanctuary in her scalloped skirt…
Not all stars belong in the sky
Unknown
There are over 1,500 species of starfish scatted around the world’s oceans, with a lot of diversity among them. Probably one of my favorite things about these squishy echinoderms is their regenerative capabilities – they can lose and arm (or several) and, so long as they preserve most of their central disk, can carefully regrow their limbs over time.
Sometimes, I think we see what we need to see in our clothing. As someone who derives a lot of power from her wardrobe, it probably shouldn’t surprise me that I selected a dress that reminds me of my happy place, where I can literally throw my problems out to sea. And maybe this piece called to me this morning because I needed to take a lesson from the humble starfish; to believe that we too can regenerate after this. That there will be loss and hardship, and we have no control over that.
Maybe the best we can do is surrender to the loss, take a deep breath, and start to rebuild.
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: Timeless Vintage (similar modern and vintage here, here & here)
Necklace: gift (similar)
Handbag: thrifted (similar here & here)
Shoes: gift, Betsey Johnson
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Any items marked with a “c/o” (courtesy of) a retailer mean I was provided with an item for free in exchange for a review and/or feature on my blog. I always provide my honest opinion of any item I’m reviewing, regardless of whether it was sent to me as a courtesy item or if I purchased it myself. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links or ads on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase at no cost to you, which helps with the day-to-day running costs of my blog.