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Rate the Dress: a 17th century Woman in Red

Almost all of you loved last week’s 1910ish Rate the Dress, but those who found it a little fussy, or the neckline a little high, or the bodice a little odd dragged the rating down from a high 9 to a 8.7 out of 10.

I’ve belatedly realised that something a little Christmas-y might have been a good pick for Rate the Dress, so to keep in the spirit (better late than never), here is a holiday appropriate red and white dress for a pregnant woman.

Marcus Gheeraerts II, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620, Collection of the Tate

The only sombre note to this ornate ensemble is the black ribbon on her wrist, a memento commemorating someone who had died (hopefully not the father of her unborn child!).

How do you feel about the outfit?  I’ve never done maternity wear before, so it is interesting to see what you will make of the shortened bodice, the red petticoat paired with the white top, and the elaborate patterning and lace trimming.

Rate the dress on a scale of 1 to 10

Fissy yawns (and other stuff)

And in other news, I’m going off for 10 days on a camping trip with my little sister and friends, and the blog will be on autopilot, so don’t be surprised if I don’t respond to all your fabulously clever comments right away (please do leave them though..I need something to look forward to once the trip is over and I have to go back to work and ordinary life!)

Sometimes I am a rather strange person

I spent Christmas Eve catching moths with Madame Ornata.

And then, on Christmas day, I had free time.  And I thought to myself: “Wow, it’s Christmas, for once in my life I don’t have a to-do-list a mile long.  What would I really like to do to spoil myself?”

So I put on my grubbiest clothes and took down the shower curtains.

And there I was, on Christmas afternoon, down on my knees with a bucket of soapy water, scrubbing the shower curtains.

And I was happy as can be.