Yesterday was International Wear a Dress Day. Oops. I missed it. I probably wouldn’t have worn a dress even if I had known. I wear dresses in the summer and sometimes on “special occasions” other times of the year but I’ve thought about buying some tights and occasionally wearing a dress in the winter “just because”. Long sleeved dresses look so nice and (the truth comes out) I would really love to sew some pretty, long sleeved dresses – which I shouldn’t sew if I’m not going to wear them.

Erin has a list of answers to excuses for not wearing dresses. I have to admit that I do hate when people ask me “What are you all dressed up for?” or “My, you look nice today,” in that tone that suggests that I’m too dressed up. I wish I could think of something clever to say. Usually I just say something like, “I’m not dressed up; this is just what I felt like wearing.” I’ve been tempted to say, “I’m dressed normal. What are you dressed down for?” but that sounds a little too mean. Still…

I do like dresses but I feel more comfortable in pants. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable in dresses but I somehow feel more free in pants. It’s hard to explain. In a dress I feel like I have to be more careful and only move in certain ways. It’s hard to really feel relaxed in a dress. I guess that’s just habit. If I wore dresses more often they would feel more normal.

I particularly like this paragraph from Erin’s answers:

“I work in a male-dominated industry, and I don’t want to look too feminine.” Newsflash: I’m pretty sure they already know you’re a girl. If you treat femininity as something to apologize for, so will they. Do they worry that they are “too masculine”? I’m betting not. Acting like a guy means doing whatever the hell you want whenever the hell you want until stopped by force (as far as I can tell). So if you want to seem less feminine to fit in, try that first.

Yes! Be feminine and be proud! I have never understood how it is that some women think that behaving more like men will improve women’s position in society.

So anyway… there’s a Danskin store in the Nearby Small Town. I wonder if they sell cotton spandex tights in large sizes. (Every other place I’ve looked only has nylon.)