Where: Winesday and a tour of my church (celebrating its 75th birthday!). Photos of the church at the bottom of the post.
Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) FIVE STARS, you all! FIVE STARS! Since I didn't add much to it, just a very simple pair of sandals, we have my first five star ease of wear ever on this blog. Most of my outfits hover between 3 and 4, but there is always SOMETHING stopping it from being fully comfortable (it usually involves my stupid hips, btw). Not this one, the Adelaide Dress
Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) It has the kind of cool retro 80s thing going on and the sandals are effortlessly cool, but there ain't enough going on for this to be cool all the way. I would have to jazz it up much more, maybe by adding a straw fedora, a simple large pendant necklace, and a side braid.
Anecdote from the day: My church celebrated its 50th birthday when I was in 8th grade. I remember it very clearly because that was the last time they overhauled the church, taking it from mid-century yellow wallpaper and turquoise embellishments to a more understated, yet still evocative of the period in which is was built, feel. (Though the church is 75, the church as it stands was built in the 60s.)
Since it has been 25 years (I AM SO SO SO SO SO OLD) since that facelift, they feel it is time for another. None of us in the tour agreed. A cleaning or a sprucing up? Sure! But an overhaul of the beauty that church is now? No! We seemed to agree that the original design was a bit too modernist for the cathedral space (it is the cathedral) but the re-do in the *LATE* 80s hit the sweet spot exactly right, so why change it too much?
I attended this tour, btw, since I know I will still be there at the church for its 100th anniversary, and since I really will be much much older then, and probably the only person still alive who remembers the church from way back when, I suspect that I will be tapped to run/be part of the 100th celebration. Might as well get started on the research now. ;)
In addition to being nicely shaped, the length is wonderful, I am glad that it hits right at the top of my knee, which is a lovely spot for a summer dress to hit.
It is a wee bit too long in the bodice, but had I ordered the regular to get a shorter bodice, I would have been faced with a much shorter dress which definitely limits where I can wear it (not church, that's fo darn shure).
The fabric is a jersey, similar in feel to other cotton jersey offerings from Boden. In other words, the fabric is thick, stretchy, nicely printed in pretty colors, and well tailored.
The price is very good for what you get, especially on the quality end. J. Crew (sorry, J. Crew) would cut corners to offer this dress at this price (no pockets, no button detailing at the shoulder, and definitely an inferior cotton jersey in blah colors).
Before I get on to pictures of the church from the church tour, I thought I would let you all know of a couple of sales going on right now at some of the retailers we like here at this blog.
BODEN:
Obviously, Boden is having a big sale right now. I initially blogged about it here, but I want to mention it again since the Adelaide is part of the sale, and the purple/red color is at a very nice discount (so if those colors work for you, grab it, I say!). The other two colors are not as well discounted, but you can use the sidebar's 15% off coupon to make it a little bit cheaper. The link to the Boden sale is below.
PURE COLLECTION:
Pure Collection, which is still on my radar, is having a sale on selected spring items. That means you can get 40% off some of their offerings. I don't have a ton from Pure, but everything I own from them is insanely beautiful, well tailored, and made from the NICEST fabrics. I do plan to do a Pure Collection picks of the season post but with my time very constrained right now, it has been put on the back burner for far too long.
There isn't a ton in their sale, but I love the Luxury Lace T-Shirt
If you are looking to purchase an item from Pure that isn't in the sale, my sidebar's 25% off coupon is still working and will give you a good saving. (This 25% off is not able to be stacked with the 40% off sale items, though.)
(USE CODE SS13GL to receive the 40% off the selected items.)
LANDS' END:
Lands' End also just announced a HUGE sale, with 40% off all regular priced items. I will definitely be doing a picks post from them, I may just end up combining it with the Pure picks, like I did with the last post I did on the two of them.
I have purchased the Pattern Stretch Chino Bermuda Shorts
Below is the promo link for the sale. Enjoy!
The weird looking organ horns jutting out from the wood paneling there in the front of the choir loft? Those are specifically for the Bishop and are only used when he is at the Cathedral. I have been there for his masses, and I must say, they are quite loud and booming. Definitely gives the church its place in the ranks of places that do "pomp and circumstance" well.
Okay, that's it! Thanks for your patience with this post that had many disparate elements to it! :)
