uniformly

So I haven't found the perfect substitute yet for the lovely flannel-y brown Orla Kiely dress, but in the meantime I've pulled some of my favourite brown workhorses out of the closet.  This baby is one of the best- wildly polyester, but with lovely structure and such a nice sickly shade of brown.  I bought it at Value Village several years ago for a few dollars and immediately replaced the bright shiny brass buttons with something a bit more muted.  I wonder if I should go brassy again?

Vintage 'Brownie secretary' dress, Indigo boots, crappy Gap tights- avoid!

I love the uniform demeanour yet stylish cut of this dress, as if a Brownie troup in the early sixties forced their secretary to dress the part!  I tend to get very monochromatic around this time of year, when the vivid ochres and rusts of autumn are replaced by the dreary winter monotone.  Despite the thickness of the fabric, I actually tend to wear this one more in spring once the tights season passes.

Today was a 'brisk' -20 Celsius and I barely noticed so I guess that's good!  The one advantage to a lengthy winter, I realized last night while trying to sort out my closet, is that there are many days yet to come to pull out the assortment of wool and winter-weight clothing that needs wearing! Oh my!

I also have the right pattern for when I come across the perfect brown fabric for my dress:

The simple cut in the middle is one I have been planning to make in black for summer, but it would be perfect for the wool dress too- slightly severe, slightly girly.  That's me!

The peter pan collar here is pretty sweet too!  I have this pattern, but in a smaller size, so I think I'll go with the first one, and maybe borrow the collar from here.

This is all sounds very impressive, but I have yet to actually make a dress from a pattern so....though I may have a lot of experience tailoring for myself,  I am somewhat less than methodical so this could be a challenge!