Rate the Dress: Mid-1880s ochre and gold
Last week’s 1850s homage to the 18th century attracted a few ardent admirers, a few vehement naysayers, and a lot of people who thought it was soooooo close to great….but not there (mostly because of the blue-green trim). So it balanced out at 7.8 out of 10, which isn’t bad for a dress trying to carry SO many colours and design ideas. I found I loved the dress if I just looked at it, but the minute I tried to inspect and analyse I found dozens of things I thought were awful. I suspect that if I saw it at a party I still would have gone away remembering it as fabulous and lovely, because the overall impression of delight would outbalance all the little niggles. Since last week’s dress was so very, very sweet, I felt that we need a palette cleanser: something entirely free of florals and frills and pastels. I’d already settled on this ensemble when I realised the base colour was actually quite similar to that of last weeks dress. Despite …