Yes, It's a Black Dress

My colleagues today were all shocked: I'm in a black dress! 

The stair pose fights with wrap dresses

It's not that unusual - I do have a fair bit of black in my wardrobe, but I usually mix it with a lot of colour and/or pattern.

• Dress - Strawberry Jill, thrifted; purchased here for $9.95
• Shoes - Marc Jacobs, vintage, thrifted; last seen here in April with cosmic patterns

Aside from the shock of "Sheila! In a black dress!" everyone loved it. It is such a pretty dress!

 I am really glad I bought it - I did waffle. I have a LOT of dresses, and not enough room for them all (and I keep finding new and awesome ones!).

This is silk, even the lining! It was a dream to wear all day. I have had a couple of other Strawberry Jill items over the years:

• This fabulous silk "dragon scale" skirt (originally thrifted for $18.95), here;
• A black and brown silk "patchwork" skirt (first worn here, originally thrifted for $12.50) - I no longer have this, gave it away a few years ago.

 I was rather sweaty on the walk home, though - it's up to 24 today! Phew! Hot!

I do large pin-curls in my hair while I'm putting on my make-up - it is mostly gone by the end of the day, but I like the illusion of curly hair.

This wrap dress actually stayed put really well all day.

It helped that I wore my little pants under it! You can catch a glimpse of them in the stair picture.

 They were fantastic for keeping my thighs from rubbing, making me feel more secure (woo, flash!), and the cotton fabric actually kept the dress in place when I was walking with my cross-body bag - I was terrified that the dress would ride up and be around my waist (I hate when clothes do that!).

The stuff:

 Such fabulous shoes! They are really well-balanced, and comfy to wear, even though they don't have a lick of padding in them.

Chain bling:

Featuring my new-to-me earring and necklace set, and my new onyx/obsidian and silver ring.

• Necklace/earrings - Sarah Coventry, vintage fair - first wearing, purchased here for $10.00
• Black/silver ring - Tocara, vintage fair - first wearing, purchased here for $10.00
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Not including the lapis ring (which was $500 in 2012, and I've worn about 300 times - I wear it at least once a week), my outfit was under $60 (dress $9.95, ring $10, jewelry set $10, shoes $29.95). Not bad!