Plain Vanilla

The "costumes" for Encore this year are shades of white. We are all supposed to wear white, beige, ivory, or light khaki. Tops and bottoms can be a mix of pants, skirts, capris, short sleeve, long sleeve, etc.

Well last year I made a very poor costume choice. We were told the following: black dresses, below the knee, look formal. So bought ye olde black frock with sensible short sleeves and the only frill at the hem. And 90% of the women on the stage were wearing spaghetti strap short cocktail dresses.

See me in the top right corner, looking like I'm wearing a black t-shirt? See all those bare shoulders around me? I'd prefer to not look like the dowdy one again this year!

This year I am determined to look like I belong with everyone else. So I took Scott along on a little shopping excursion this morning. I was looking for a new suit, but ended up picking up three shirts for $30 at Lane Bryant (which has recently shifted its focus from making fat teenage girls look like hookers to actually supplying women with stylish size-appropriate clothing. what a pleasant surprise that was!). Two of the shirts were potentials for the Encore concert:

The first is basically two layers of ivory chiffon. Obviously needs a camisole under it (and there is one in the picture, honest!). It's a faux wrap with a really nice satin accent along the neck line, and a satin tie in the back. When I left the store, this was "the one." And I was thrilled to have found it. However, now that I'm home and have tried it on again with a cami underneath, I'm a little worried that I'll look like I have a big X across my chest that'll look even more accented under stage lights. (please disregard the sagging around the waist...the photos were taken without proper... umm... support)

The second one I adored on the hanger, and adored it on. But I had pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to wear white. This shirt has an interesting neck line, and really subtle pinstripes in silver and shiny white that probably wouldn't show up on stage. That's unfortunate, because they do add some visual interest. This one I'm going to add to my work shirt rotation, even though it, too, requires that something be worn under it.

The third top I bought was a $5 orange v-neck cable knit sweater. I love it and can't wait for the cooler months so that I'll have an excuse to wear it!

But I have this one other shirt already. I bought it online and totally hated it. It's nothing like the picture implied it would be. It's see-through, pleated all the way down so I feel like I'm in a cupcake liner, and the fabric reminds me of the blouses my great grandmother used to wear. However, I threw it on tonight (since I was already wearing the camisole) and I think it looks pretty decent. It's just about the same shade as the first shirt, but the visual interest is all in the crocheted collar/buttons.

So, disregarding the poor white balance and my funny faces, does anyone have an opinion on any of these? I really think it's between the first and last. The second just doesn't look special enough for the stage. And like I said, I'd like to wear it to work. It's doubtful that polyester (or whatever it is) will ever recover from that kind of industrial-strength sweating and still be wearable.

Poor Scott is back on the trail with me tomorrow (yes, tomorrow - I haven't gone to sleep yet!) for a new interview suit. We also have to babysit, and I was hoping to see WALL*E, but I think we may need to wait another week for that. My throat still hasn't completely healed, and we're going to a Dave Matthews Band concert in Tampa on Wednesday. So perhaps my best bet is to take it easy tomorrow afternoon while I still can.