National Dress Day!

National Dress Day is March 6th of each year. This year I asked blog readers to share with us all pictures of themselves celebrating the versatility of the dress.

I’m sure we can all think of a favorite dress that we’ve worn. Was it a prom dress? Wedding dress? Sun dress? I can think of several favorite dresses that I’ve worn throughout my life.

Dresses can be casual, or formal. Whatever your choice, enjoy however you choose to express yourself with a dress!

So without further ado, here are the dresses!

I have known Cassie since she and Mia’s first day of Tiny Tots. She’s been my daughter’s friend ever since, and now is my coworker. (Small town stuff) Cassie chose to wear this cute sundress with a denim jacket for dress day. Her choice of heels dresses it up, but those cowboy boots I see in the back could also go well with this outfit!

My cousin Elizabeth, paired her dress with a cardigan, and I love the back detail of it! I love that her dress has two different fabrics for the bodice and the skirt part. Elizabeth wears this dress to work, or casually out and about on the weekends.

She spent National Dress Day sewing her own projects. (I taught her how to sew, and now she’s hooked!)

My cousin Jennifer looks amazing in this floral dress with a denim jacket. She said dresses feel a little out of her comfort zone, but they shouldn’t be! Dresses show off her tattoo, and look great on her!

I love the colors and print of this dress. It too could easily be dressed up with heels, and minus the jacket. Dresses are so versitile!

My sister in law Shelby chose this dress for dress day. There is so much to love about it!!

I adore the lines of the bodice on this dress. The decorative solid black is such a nice contrast to the print of the dress.

Shelby could wear this dress to work, or a more formal occasion.

And you know I’m looking at those shoes! What a perfect pairing! You look stunning Shelby!

National Dress Day found my sister Michelle shopping for fabric! She chose this dress knowing she would be out shopping and wanted a comfortable fit. Because it’s cold still, she chose to wear a long sleeved shirt under it. Her comfortable fit didn’t stop with the dress, but she chose her Doc Martin boots so she would be comfortable from head to toe. The dress also has pockets! That’s an added bonus!

She paired it with her mask that I had previously made her to match her scary skirt. (See blog post “Scary House, Scary Skirt”)

Chloe in Georgia spent the day in this casual and comfortable dress. Mia ran into her and she said she wanted to be included in dress day! This dress looks amazing, and the barefoot look suits it!

Mia picked out her “Brady Bunch House” dress to wear. It too has bonus pockets.

She wears this dress to work, but it’s also an everyday dress.

She accessorized it with a scarf headband, and a sunflower broach to show her support for the people of Ukraine.

My niece Kira got her roommate Emma to participate in dress day! Kira’s dress is so spring time and fun! I love the neckline, sleeves, and color of Emma’s dress.

Off they went for a quick photo shoot to support my blog. Kira, my little ride or die, pulled it together in the middle of assignments and college stress! I’m grateful that Kira has made an amazing friend!

Is this dress flirty? Only if she feels like being flirty. Kira knows that she whatever she wears is to make herself feel good, not anyone else! She feels and is beautiful in it, and that is the entire point of a good dress!

This blue reminds me of a sundress that I’ve seen Marilyn Monroe wear. It looks great on Kira!

Ellie, my co worker, and faithful blog reader, chose this dress to celebrate dress day. The colors look amazing on her, as does the style of the dress.

Ellie is a transitional kindergarten teacher and always looks this great at work too! I need to add that those shoes are amazing!

Cousins Dana and Alice picked out these dresses. Alice, like many of the fashionistas before her, paired her little dress with a denim jacket. Ha! The fun print of Dana’s dress makes it easily a casual, or more formal dress depending on where you’re going for the day.

Both dresses are perfect for some music and a sing-a-long in the back yard!

Rhonda is a knock out in the black dress that she picked out. It could easily be worn to a formal occasion.

Or worn with her fedora for whatever occasion you want!

Are those bonus pockets I see? I love it!

As for myself I couldn’t let dress day pass without a special sew. I picked out this pattern, which I have made in the past. This pattern is a 1960’s reissued pattern.

I wanted to make a dress using two colors, and since the pattern has a seam right up the front, it would be perfect.

A little blurry, it’s not your eyes. Ha!

I wanted a dress that would express the heartache I was feeling about the innocent people getting killed in Ukraine. I wanted people to take one look at it, and know my heart was with them.

Off to the backyard I went to take some after pictures.

And since I was my own photographer, a good ol’ selfie.

Can I just for a second be the hardest critic of myself. I have wrinkles. When I look at pictures of my grandparents, on all sides, and my dad, I know my forehead never stood a chance! HA! But I know that all of those traits are just them peeking out to say hello. I also know all too well that getting older is a blessing that not everyone gets to experience. I’ve never used a filter on pictures of me in my blog, and I never will. If you do I don’t judge, some filters look amazing. I’m just letting you know why I chose to let my wrinkles shine.

Back to dress day!

Michelle and I were off to fabric shop. When I cut the bottom off of this dress to hem it I was left with a wide strip of fabric. I figured it would make the perfect headband!

Shopping away, yes, that is “Back To The Future” fabric that I’m holding! I see a button up shirt in David’s future! I just happened to have a pair of 1960’s vintage, yellow shoes that I had previously purchased at a second hand store for a dollar!! Major win for me and fashion!

There are so many dresses and styles, reasons to wear them, and places to wear them that each part of that is as unique as the wearer!

Cute, professional, casual, formal, classy, colorful, flirty, unique, beautiful, and empowering are all words I can use to describe dresses. More importantly, they are words I could also use to describe each woman wearing them.

Whether you wear a dress for a musical day in the backyard, or a formal event, or to make a statement about injustice, wear what makes you happy. There isn’t enough time in anyone’s life to be concerned about the judgement of others.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated. It means so much to me that you would support me. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by my self created sewing challenge, but I guess it wouldn’t be a challenge if it wasn’t hard. Thanks for being in my corner!

As for me, onto the next!