Not dressing-up dresses
I don't wear dresses much but I'm quite fancying the idea of a summer dress. I think I find dresses difficult partly because I'm not comfortable in very feminine style clothes, and dresses are inherently quite feminine. The other reason, I think, is that I always think I look too posh in dresses. I don't perceive other people in dresses as too posh but I do perceive myself as that. The one dress I do wear occasionally is quite plain, black and white, and not hugely feminine (my fake Mary Quant dress, for those that know my wardrobe - the one I wore at my 40th birthday weekend). I don't feel posh in that and it aligns okay with my gender identity.
It must be possible to find a non-frilly, casual style kind of dress that I could wear in the summer on childcare days or possibly to work. My local shops (a limited selection of 2 charity shops and 2 rather expensive boutique kind of shops) are not providing inspiration, let alone actual dresses. So I thought I would ask the internets.
This does not at all fulfill my criteria (and is far too expensive), but I like it. The shape probably wouldn't suit me anyway. Those grapes are totally sour.
I have no possible occasion to wear this, but the pattern's great
This is possible, but perhaps a bit little-girl-ish for my taste
I love the colours and pattern on this, but I think the shape would look awful on me.
This is a bit pricey but possible, but I don't really want to buy without trying on first and it seems to be a US brand. This, from the same people, is probably too dressy (and has the same drawbacks) but I love it. If I wanted a posh dress, and had enough money, I would definitely buy this one but none of those are the case.
I am imagining a plain-coloured button through shirt kind of dress (shirtwaister? not sure if that's the right name) in cotton with a bit of tailoring, just-above-knee-length-ish and probably in cotton (I haven't the housekeeping skills for linen) but I can't seem to find any of those. The penultimate one in that list is the closest, but comes out posher than I was imagining.
What or where would you recommend?
It must be possible to find a non-frilly, casual style kind of dress that I could wear in the summer on childcare days or possibly to work. My local shops (a limited selection of 2 charity shops and 2 rather expensive boutique kind of shops) are not providing inspiration, let alone actual dresses. So I thought I would ask the internets.
This does not at all fulfill my criteria (and is far too expensive), but I like it. The shape probably wouldn't suit me anyway. Those grapes are totally sour.
I have no possible occasion to wear this, but the pattern's great
This is possible, but perhaps a bit little-girl-ish for my taste
I love the colours and pattern on this, but I think the shape would look awful on me.
This is a bit pricey but possible, but I don't really want to buy without trying on first and it seems to be a US brand. This, from the same people, is probably too dressy (and has the same drawbacks) but I love it. If I wanted a posh dress, and had enough money, I would definitely buy this one but none of those are the case.
I am imagining a plain-coloured button through shirt kind of dress (shirtwaister? not sure if that's the right name) in cotton with a bit of tailoring, just-above-knee-length-ish and probably in cotton (I haven't the housekeeping skills for linen) but I can't seem to find any of those. The penultimate one in that list is the closest, but comes out posher than I was imagining.
What or where would you recommend?