I loved this dress by LK Bennett when I first saw it in my InStyle magazine.
But
And this is a big BUT - there were two problems.
1. It cost £499.00
2. I had pledged NOT to buy any more new clothes for a year.
After catching a glimpse of the dress in almost every magazine I saw which seemed to taunt me in a "na na na na na!" kind of way, I remembered.
I remembered that 20 years ago I wore a similar style dress for my husband's very first Christmas Do.
It was 1988 and we were fresh out of university - very excited that we finally had real jobs.
I splashed out £49.99 on the dress from the Next directory.
The only difference (I felt) between this dress and the LK Bennett dress was the long sleeve which had never felt right as they were too long.
After much trepidation I dug out the dress, took to the scissors and began.
I found the red belt on a shirt I had bought and put it all together to wear on Saturday when we went out for a meal.
I had originally planned to wear the dress at Christmas and looking at the photographs I think it may need a little more work around the arm holes but ta da!
As a footnote it may interest you to know that most of the clothes I wear are a standard British 10. This dress is very snug and a size 12 which may say something about the sizing policy over the last 20 years!
Dress: Next
Belt: Off a shirt
Diamante Necklace - Inherited from my Grandmother
Boots - Tesco
9 comments:
Amazing that a) you still have the dress after 20 years; and b) you can still fit in it!
The dress looks great - and you must have felt very pleased with yourself for saving £499!
You look fabulous in this! I totally agree with you about sizing - I am wearing the same size I did when I was 16 but couldn't fit half of me the clothes I wore comfortably then.
Kudos to you girl! You look absolutely fabulous in that dress! It is so Audrey Hepburn -- I love it.
I've got to hand it to Next, their clothing is pretty decent quality. I have a sweater I bought from them 12 years ago that I still wear from time to time.
Way to rock it twenty years later!
Fabulous! I love the way you have the belt situated just a bit high waisted.
Darla
Oh Jane - you look gorgeous!
You will get so much wear out of this lovely dress - it's so classic.
And it shows off your gorgeous shape beautifully.
Heather x
no way, you did that? how great- the red belt looks fab with it too!
I'm awed by 1. your creativity 2. you still have this dress! and 3. how amazing this looks on you.
Brava! You look gorgeous, Jane!
By the way, too crazy about that sizing. When I got married, I wore my mom's wedding dress - it's a size 10. I was a size 10 at the time and man, I was trussed up like a sausage in super-control undergarments to fit into that thing!
OMG - I chuck things out after a few months (will be stopping now - thanks Credit Crunch)I can not believe that you have hept that dress for 20 years! I have just taken delivery of cute lace dresses this morning!
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