Two summer dresses and cultural adventures

There is no knitting in this post, but it is relevant to this blog, as I am going to talk about style and fit. I recently added to my wardrobe a dress I bought in Santa Fe less than two weeks ago. And I just finished tailoring it to fit, hence the post today.

Favorite summer dress #1. Found in a shop in Santa Fe (Aunaturel Colordye). The dress is rayon. It shimmers and moves beautifully. It is made in India. This is the tailored version.

The shop drew my attention while walking around a small mall on the Plaza with a friend and colleague (who likes shopping). It was downstairs, and the shop keeper had artfully displayed interesting and attractive clothing outside. Inside the shop was a wealth of artsy outfits (the kind people in Santa Fe like to wear). I tried on many things, but when I put on the dress that had drawn my attention outside the shop, I ended up walking out of the shop wearing it (of course after I paid for it). It had potential. Even in its untailored form, it drew a lot of compliments.

Aside from the exotic look of the shop, the artful shop keeper was a Korean adjuma (a middle aged, usually married, woman). We talked about how much Koreans, especially those from the capital city of Seoul, cared about fashion.

The dress is designed to fit most, with smocking in the back and strings that can gather extra fabric and tighten the dress in the back. The corset in the front is only for decoration. It's a lost opportunity to broaden the range of fit. My issue, as usual, was that I am not "most" in the US, so once I got home, I ended up removing a total of 16 cm in the girth of the bodice of the dress. 

Another dress that I own that has an artsy look to it as well and is one size fits most is one my Mom bought me as a birthday present in a small shop in a small ocean resort town in South Bretagne (Pornic). The shop keeper was from Peru and his shop specialized in imports of wool and fine cotton outfits from South America. I like exotic shops like this. At the time, I was getting ready for my winter trip to Chile and the shop keeper told me about that part of the world.

Favorite summer dress #2. Found in a small shop on the French Atlantic shore. The dress is from Peru. The body of water behind me is not the Atlantic Ocean, but Lake Geneva.

I like the red dress from Peru even more than the one I found in Santa Fe. It is cleverly made to flatter most body types, but unlike the dress made for US export, the Peru dress is meant to fit most... French women. Not past a size 4 or 6. I had nothing to do for it to fit perfectly. The back is also made with smocking, like the Santa Fe dress. Other cleverly placed elasticity and a loose-but-not-too-loose fit make it adaptable and flattering.

I own countless dresses and have many favorites, but those are my two exotic summer favorites. And they each come from shops where I found interesting cultural experiences.