This week’s rate the dress is focused on one of my favourite fabrics, and favourite dress styles (though neither necessarily means I love this example – when it’s your favourite you get picky!) Last Week: a mid 19th-century ensemble in green florals and bows Sooo…that was a no from you on the bows then? You thought they were too twee, or too clashing (or too twee and too clashing). The fringed plaid ribbon got a somewhat better response, with at least half of you thinking the mix of florals and checks was very effective. Of course, the other half thought it was very awful. What was a win was my description of the dress’s style as ‘demure fussiness A confession: I liked the bows! I felt their hue freshened up the colours of the dress, and their non-matching-ness was so perfectly mid-Victorian, and exactly the note of levity the dress needed. Lisa, Vivian, Paula & I can be team #gobowsgo (apologies if I missed any other bow champions!) (and extra mega-bonus points if you get …

Yellow is the colour I reach for when I want to be happy, but green is my go-to for calmness and de-stressing. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my life. Some of it has been good stress, with fun adventures, and the start of the new school year at Toi Whakaari the New Zealand Drama School. There’s also been some less happy stress, with a spike in my ever-present-but-mostly-under-control-most-of-the-time-climate-anxiety, and worries about the coronavirus (people I know who are in the know are very worried, and that’s even more worrying…). So this week I want to be calm. And while some think historical fashion is frivolous, I’d strongly argue against that. Clothes are a universal need that links almost everyone on the planet. What we wore tells us a lot about where we’ve come from as a society, and where we can learn from that. And looking at old garments is a very low climate impact way to de-stress! So here’s to pretty (or not – that’s what RTD is all about!) frocks. …