Best Hot Frock
. . . and woman looking dubiously at the camera because her husband is holding it. We have to use this one, where my dubiety is in the process of causing my face stress fractures, because the one where I’m smiling at the bloke over Peter’s shoulder who is making ‘been there done that’ faces at me has the other blokes you can see in the background of this one doing a strange spastic salsa out of my right arm. Sigh. But I was determined to show you my frock.* Best for hot weather frock, you know. Glyndebourne is the place where you wear your best frock and feel like a scullery maid on her half day, but this is a Nicole Farhi. And except for the fact that I’m posting it here, no one would have to know that I bought it for £25 on the sale rack at Liberty’s. I love Liberty’s. It’s as good as a play. But I don’t expect to buy anything there.
*Despite bad case of farmer’s tan. And I just was not going to wear stockings in this weather. I. Was. Not.
ROBIN! You look *gorgeous!* And the frock is lovely. This is a great picture! (I completely understand about the stockings and shocking the world with my Very Pale Legs. But sometimes you just don’t care. The world will manage.)
Thank you! I’m impressed at you young women with beauty to lose admitting to being seen in public with VPLs, however! :)
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Fortunately the rest of me is Very Pale as well, so I kind of match. ;) I used to tan when I was a kid, but when I became a teenager, I just burnt. A lot. These days, I can be in the sun about ten minutes before I start turning pink. My friends no longer let me go out without sunscreen. I have good friends.
Although I do kind of worry I might blind people if the sun reflects off my legs just so. :S
Well I worry about the chemicals in *sunscreen*–have for years–and now Science is catching up with me. Such a trial, behind ahead of my time. :) I mostly just *stay indoors* in the middle of the day. I’m okay before and after–except I do acquire the farmer’s tan over the course of a summer.
No Robin VPLs are visible panty lines not very pale legs. One is a fashion faux pas and the other is a fact of nature other people should just accept. You sort it out.
Well I worry about the chemicals in *sunscreen*–have for years–and now Science is catching up with me.
Good for Science! I’m not really surprised. Anything that feels that icky can’t be good for you. I prefer not to wear it, but the other option is lobster red; as a result, I, too, stay inside during the danger hours.
Yes. Absolutely. The long sleeved white cotton shirt is an emergency back up. (Although you too can probably burn THROUGH it. But you can kind of *dash around* at noon . . . :))
Yep, I can burn through them, too.
It’s Very Hard being us. ;)
*Snork!*
It certainly is!!! :)
Especially when you think that 200 years ago we would have been universally admired for our white, white skin. On the other hand, would have had to drag around parasols and emphatically not Do Things for fear of freckles. Which look quite nice once they get dense enough, a sort of pink-and-beige granite look, but I can’t find any period in history where the pleasing aesthetics of freckles have been properly recognized.
So very, very hard to be us.
Very. I have DIRE skin. Whiteness is only ONE of its faults. –I also dislike a lot of the female undergarments of previous centuries.
I, too, burn quite handily through long-sleeved shirts…they don’t even have to be white. Went to a conference earlier this year, held entirely indoors, and confounded my friends by ending the two-day event with a very definite sunburn. “How?!” they said. “I walked from one building to another…at least four times,” I said. “!!! *sigh*” they replied.
And then there was the time my legs burned badly, very, very painful to the touch…and *never changed color*. Still white as the belly of something with a very white belly.
And then there was the time my legs burned badly, very, very painful to the touch…and *never changed color*. Still white as the belly of something with a very white belly
********** OH gods! I’m not the only alien from another, sunless, planet!!!!!! People don’t believe me when I tell this story!
You look lovely, despite the farmer’s tan! (and at least BOTH your arms are equally brown - I randomly have one arm and shoulder that are much browner than the other - and as for legs, well we won’t mention those. I always wear either long skirts of trousers, and therefore have milk-bottle legs)
And YAY for hellhounds playing nice for the dog minder! Fingers crossed it’s the start of a new trend.
I randomly have one arm and shoulder that are much browner than the other
********* Drive a lot, do you?
(Thank you! I’m naturally kind of the colour of skimmed milk–speaking of milk bottles–but there’s a point on the thermometer at which I no longer CARE. :) This is, I find, one of the advantages of getting OOOOOLD too: you’re old. So who cares? :))
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**I randomly have one arm and shoulder that are much browner than the other
********* Drive a lot, do you?**
Nope, mostly only the five minute or so drive to and from work, and I have to wear sleeves there, so it can’t be a driving tan.
Usually I don’t tan at all, but this year I’m making myself walk to get my daily Starbucks fix (about a mile each way) but in theory that should lead to even tanning (one side on the way there, the other on the way back). I guess the only answer is that I’m weird….
Weird but HEALTHY. Weird and healthy is GOOD. Keep walking. :)
**Weird but HEALTHY. Weird and healthy is GOOD. Keep walking. :)**
You didn’t have to AGREE on the weirdness QUITE so readily….;-)
Hey! I’M weird and healthy! [hurt feelings! hurt feelings! :)]
**Weird but HEALTHY. Weird and healthy is GOOD. Keep walking. :)**
Awww, Well in that case I shall take it as a compliment :-)
Yes! Now we’re on the same page! :)
**Yes! Now we’re on the same page! :)**
*checks page number*
Well, I’m on page 128. Is that where you are? 0:-) *polishes halo*
No, I’m on page 60. Of FIRST FLIGHT. :)
Lovely frock, and how great to have a chance to really dress up! Like the shoes too - definitely not for walking hellhounds :)
Yes. Ow ow ow ow ow. As lady shoes go these are very civilised. But. Ow. And yes, those ARE rhinestones. :)
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Well well. You don’t scrub up too bad. ;)
And I understand the farmer’s tan all too well …… :(
Good to hear you had an all-round good day out. :)
LOL! That’s how I think of it–I don’t scrub up too badly!
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You look wonderful! I love that dress. I’m very fond of that neckline.
Since I’m also of the pale skinned variety, I can get very interesting tan lines. My current amusing set are my Teva sandal lines that I acquired on vacation.
Thank you!
LOL! I did something similar once–generally I don’t tan, I’m either white or RED.
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“Since I’m also of the pale skinned variety, I can get very interesting tan lines. My current amusing set are my Teva sandal lines that I acquired on vacation.”
—- I was outside the other day in our backyard with bare feet (most years being barefoot is normal for me, but I’m spending so much of my outside time at work this year [since I'm working outside ALL DAY sometimes, when I come home I want to just curl up on my couch and read instead of playing in the yard or something] that I don’t get to it as much). We had a friend over who took one look at my feet and said, “You have the same sandals as [your housemate] does.” Which is true. We have the same brand, and the same (very distinct) tan lines. It was a funny sort of identification, though.
What sorts of chemicals are being found in sunscreen? Just out of curiosity. Not that I could avoid it completely anyway, esp. not years like this when I’m outside so much (and yet a few months into the summer am still getting sunburned sometimes after a day in the sun. Sigh.). But I’m curious.
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I believe farmer’s tan to be a status symbol. (I have to, since I’ve never had any other kind!)
OH GOOD. THANK YOU.
With the calluses and the lopped-off fingernails–and the total lack of make up or recent haircut–I want to think it DOES suggest someone who does a lot of outdoor stuff and isn’t really able to be smooth and civilised. :)
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No, no, we would be able to be smooth and civilized, only we are not superficial conformists, you see! We are busy achieving real achievements and being Forces for Good, or Powerful Old Crones, or whatever our current aspiration. Anyway, not spending undue time and effort on being pretty so as to appease surrounding Men with Power, because we have Power in Our Own Right. (Unless we feel like scrubbing up, like for Glyndebourne, or just because.)
No, seriously, I don’t know how anyone with a nice manicure ever has any fun; they might break a nail.
Yes! :)
“No, seriously, I don’t know how anyone with a nice manicure ever has any fun; they might break a nail.”
Hallelujah, sister! I don’t know how they have fun, or get anything substantial accomplished.
I keep thinking of that scene very early in the first series of BUFFY when she comes into the library after some early slayage and says, I broke a nail!
You do look lovely, dubiety or no. :) Excellent frockage.
Excellent frockage.
LOL!
You guys are certainly very generous with the compliments. I keep waiting for someone to burst out laughing. On the internet, no one can hear you laugh . . . :)
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On the internet, no one can hear you laugh . . . :)
Pfft. You DO look nice. Even I, unwise in the ways of Nicole Farhi, know a good dress when I see it. :) Looks like Peter was pretty well kitted-out too, in the distant shot!
He was wearing the velvet jacket *I* bought him!! Which given the weather was EXTREMELY GALLANT! Not to say BONKERS!
Very nice, very summery, and you are exactly right about not wearing stockings in hot weather. On the occasions when I dress up, I want to be comfortable at the same time.
****I bought it for £25 on the sale rack at Liberty’s.****
The sale rack is the best place to buy anything–it’s usually the first place I head for!
First and last in my case, if it’s dressing up clothes!! My latest fad, the last few years, is CASHMERE SWEATER SALES.
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Nothing wrong with that!
The perfect outfit for opera and a Nether restaurant. Yeah for the Hellhound.
Carmen?
*sigh* And I will freely admit I’m a bit green.
How was the staging? At the link the picture made the costumes look normal…. When I first moved here I was so excited ‘an opera house only and hour away’ But Stuttgart’s famous for ‘modern’. I went there a few but when I found myself spending more time with my eyes closed than open I realized it wasn’t worth it. After Hoffmann had a ‘mini-me’ following him around through his Tales just like Austin Powers did in that horrid Austin Powers film, I drew the line and stopped going.
Someday I’ll have to go somewhere to traditional opera.
Rebecca WinkleBeam
Oh GROSS. How depressing.
The costumes were pretty normal. It was a good production . . . shutting up now. I WILL write about it TOMORROW night, really I will . . .
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Oh my, stage directors . . . I sympathize with Rebecca WinkleBeam. A couple of years ago we had someone for Semiramide who, on the evidence, really wanted to be working for MTV. All you could do was close your eyes and sympathize with the singers, who were very good but grossly ill-served by the production. Some of these people are clearly trying to impress the rest of their profession rather than do justice to the work or the audience.
YES. WAY too much of this about. I gather the ENO’s last autumn’s Carmen was one of these.
You look great! And rhinestones rock!
They sure do! :)
(thank you!)
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Oh, you look beautiful! And the frock is lovely. I’m jealous that you can GO to Liberty, instead of just dreaming about it. Are you familiar with the Dress A Day site? You might like it. http://www.dressaday.com/dressaday.html
I have VPLs, but the other kind, usually. :) Sorry. Instead of being pale I go sort of yellow in winter, and then dark brown as soon as I hit sunlight. Don’t envy me- the yellow isn’t attractive, and it’s winter half the year here.
The comic con dress is *awesome.*
Yes, fading tan can be unfortunate, but . . . but . . .
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I adore the word “frock.” One always feels younger and more festive in a frock as opposed to a dress, I think.
Yes, isn’t it funny? I agree. A dress is just something you wear. :)
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Ahem. One of my friends is a French lady who once pointed out the difference between her delightfully tanned legs and my own Very Pale Ones. She said “Why do you think there is a difference?” I said “genetics?” in a rather pathetic way, and she said firmly: “No. Fake tan.” Much better than stockings, anyway.
Chemicals. I’ll keep the very pale legs.
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Great posh frock! And you look so wonderfully thin I want to cry. Well, not really. I’m losing weight, have lost 28 pounds since last fall and have about 20 to go. But it’s working! Someday I will look good in a posh frock. (Gotta get the arms in shape, though.)
Love the shoes.
WOW. YOu’re doing brilliantly. Find a nice heavy-in-the-hand horse to ride, since bells aren’t an option. :)
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You look gorgeous.
***doing a strange spastic salsa out of my right arm
I must admit, I read that badly. Or rather, I thought “sauce” not “dance.”
Great legs!! And I’m a guy. If only you weren’t an ocean away, married, and I wasn’t gay.
LOL!
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Hey, maybe farmer’s tans are why ladies used to wear evening gloves? Something to think about.
*Snork.*
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