Welcome to all the new readers! Last week’s Rate the Dress must have been shared somewhere, because there was a flood of new commenters. I’m down in Christchurch this week, doing research and visiting Lynne (who you’ll recognise as a frequent commenter on Rate the Dress posts). It’s been a hectic few weeks of wrapping up school terms, and I’m tired, and was feeling quite uninspired about this week’s Rate the Dress. Nothing I could think of seemed perfect. So I pulled out all the options, and read out their basic description to Lynne. Purple floral 1880s? Rust on rust 1876? Black & white striped 1869? Yellow with rosettes 1867-8? Lynne picked the last one, on the premise that it’s spring here, and we’re enjoying a beautiful vase of daffodils, and I went for a walk in the daffodil woods in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens today. She was concerned about the rosettes though: rosettes are so often pinked, and her mothers aversion to unfinished edges has remained. She need not worry about unfinished edges, these …

This week I’ve been a bit daring for Rate the Dress, by picking something that’s a bit hard to rate, because it’s mostly fabric. Hopefully I’ve given enough context, and a even a bonus painting as an illustration, to give you something to consider! Last Week: a mid 1920s evening gown by Callot Soeurs I don’t feel too bad about this week’s simple but tricky in its simplicity pick, because last week’s Callot Soeurs evening dress was so fun and easy to rate. Beautifully and cleanly presented, and easy to imagine on a wearer. It clearly struck a chord with many of you, and was very popular, though most of you thought it was almost perfect (9) rather than absolutely sublime (10) The Total: 9.1 out of 10 Almost, almost perfect! This week:  a 1720s dress I think the 1720s & 30s were a fascinating period in fashion history, but unfortunately I rarely get the chance to feature them on Rate the Dress. There are few surviving examples of garments from this period, and even …

Thank you to everyone who comment on my post on climate change and mental health. I really appreciate your support, suggestions, and empathy. I’m still working through them, and allowing myself to do just a little bit every day to cope, and even though I haven’t managed to respond yet, I really appreciate that you took the time to comment. One thing that does generally help me is having a schedule, so, although it’s a day late, here’s Rate the Dress. Last Week:  an 1890s evening dress by Mrs Cuttle Here in NZ things that people either really like, or really don’t like, are sometimes described as ‘the vegemite option’ (or, ‘the marmite option’, because using either immediately triggers a vehement argument about which is the better/true extremely weird tasting yeast spread). Vegemite is either something you like, or…isn’t (unless you’re me, and you think it’s revolting as you eat it, and then immediately want another piece of vegemite toast) Last week’s dress was vegemite. And, carrying on the analogy, only a few of you …