Dress anxiety

Nov 12, 2008 23:14

I wore the wool wiggle dress in the end, after having made a detachable collar for the lace appliqué dress from leftover scraps of the lace, then decided that the plainer wool dress would be better anyway, and we were horribly late. I really need to get a grip on this formal clothes problem, it's stupid, embarrassing and ends up being rude, too. The wool dress was definitely the better choice, too; I think a great part of the problem is that I overestimate the level of formality of pretty much everything. Once there I'm usually one of the most dressed-up people around, sometimes overdressed, and all that anxiety usually seems pretty ridiculous in retrospect.





It's funny how big the psychological difference between club clothes and party clothes is for me. The club outfits are my personal playground, there are no rules or boundaries that I don't set myself and I feel completely free to make anything I feel like making. I wouldn't wear them anywhere, I want a certain control over who gets to see them and wearing them in other arenas can get pretty strange. I wore the original wiggle dress with cap and all the rest of it to a young friend's class graduation party in May this year, which was... interesting; the theme was Dress To Impress, and A and I were going to one of our regular places after putting in an appearance anyway, so we did. I think we overshot the goal by a mile - we were not impressed, but apparently made a lasting impression on our friend's bitchy classmates, which was fun, but a little awkward. Other than that, anything goes and I don't worry about being overdressed for clubs; I'm only trying to please myself, so I'm not bothered by what other people think of it or expect me to do.

Formal party clothes, on the other hand, are nothing but rules, boundaries, limitations and expectations. I want to fit in at least a little, I want to please the subject of the event and be a good guest. I feel that I'm there for their sake rather than my own. Hence the performance anxiety.



That's my favourite lipstick, on a completely different note - MAC Impassioned. I like bright reds and wear them quite a bit too, but red lipstick is such a cliché with pinup- and retro-inspired styles - like no one ever wore any other colour than bright red during the 30's, 40's and 50's. This lipstick creates a similar punch of colour against a neutral face, but the hot pink is a little unexpected, a little less business as usual. I like that, and I love this particular hot pink shade; quite warm, not in the least magenta, verging on coral. I think I need a coral lipstick too, come to think of that.

colour, photos, style

Previous post Next post
Up