The Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress
My recent post about how to pack for a road trip led to a discussion of my rather odd travel wardrobe. To be honest, I didn’t even realize that my style was odd, but now that I think about it, I realize that this is yet another example of me being, well, strange.
You see, when I travel, no matter where I go, I wear a dress.
Why? Because in life, no matter what I’m doing, I wear a dress. In fact, I’m wearing one right now as I type this. See?
Me, writing blog posts in a dress.
It’s a terrible photo, but it makes my point. I wear dresses like most people wear jeans. They are comfortable, they are attractive (the above being the exception!) and best of all, they require no coordination. This is particularly important when traveling, as you don’t need to worry about taking all neutral colors. I can wear a bright pink dress one day and a subdued black dress the next, be comfortable, and best of all, it looks like I care about how I look.
But now you know the secret. I don’t actually care. I’m just lazy and comfortable!
To determine exactly when this dress-wearing habit started, I flipped back through my iPhoto albums. It appears to go back as far as 2006–but then that’s as far back as my iPhoto albums go!
It was actually laughable how many photos of me I have wearing dresses in various settings. Here are some of the highlights, starting in the past and traveling up through the present day. As a bonus, you can watch me get fatter and older, too!
Me, in a dress, in Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden in Vancover, Canada
On our honeymoon in 2006.
Me, in a dress, on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland
Random trip to the beach, summer 2008
Me, in the same dress, also in Ocean City, mini-golfing!
Could this shot be any less flattering?
Me, in a dress, at a writing retreat on top of a mountain in rural western North Carolina
I'm also wearing a scarf because it was cold on that mountain!
Are you getting tired of this? Because I have more, and they just get more and more silly. For example…
Me (well, my feet anyway), wearing a dress and standing in a stream in Vermont
The bunchy colorful thing is the ankle-length dress I was wearing--I had to hold it up!
Me, wearing that same dress (different day) at Robert Frost’s cabin, Middlebury, Vermont
It was not a snowy evening, clearly! Though it is in the woods.
Me, wearing a dress, on a boat on Lake Champlain
It was really windy!
Me, wearing a dress, at the National Zoo in D.C.
We went specifically to see the pandas.
Me, dress, Vegas
He was trying to get the whole building into the shot!
Me, dress, Stonehenge
Brrrrr!
Me, dress, Central Park
Really bad hair day!
Ok, I’m sure you all get the point by now. And I hope you understand how amused I was, trying to find one single photo of me somewhere wearing pants. I do have a few from our honeymoon, but I think you’ll agree that this location kind of dictated pants…
Me, wearing pants, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska
A dress was simply not an option.
So, there you have it. Me, in a dress, almost everywhere I’ve ever been (ok, I left out a few places because I figured by now you’ve stopped reading!) Thus, I feel perfectly ok with wearing a dress on the beaches of Maine, in wilds of Cape Breton, on the bike paths of Prince Edward Island (with bike shorts underneath of course) and even on a whale watching boat in the bay of Fundy. Though that last one may be ill advised, what with wind and all. I’ll let you know how it goes!
My daughter is alot like you. She swears she is more comfortable in dresses or skirts. I now have only 1 or 2 skirts and 1 or 2 dresses in my closet and they are only for absolutely necessary situations (and those get fewer and fewer as the years go by). My mom has given them up completely- even told her mom (soon to be 92) that she’d be wearing pants to her funeral so the older relatives had better just get ready and not plan on saying anything about it!!! I love my mom!! ; ) So pack 5 dresses and 2 skirts or similar combination. And the pants, capris and bike shorts. You can wash as needed- 10 is just toooooo many.
Never thought your wardrobe choice was odd. Just thought you may want to pack a few less dresses and bring a pair of jeans for those cold, blustery days near the coast. But you love the comfort & ease of the dresses, so go for it. I went through a predominantly dresses & skirts as casual wear phase back in the 90s when babydoll dresses & those long skirts you twisted into a big knot to keep them wrinkled were all the rage. I was also big on suede and denim mini skirts in all different colors and rinses, both with and without the “bedazzled” metal studs or rhinestones! When I didn’t want to wear heels, I used to even wear the skirts & dresses with cowboy boots or Timberlands – sort of like the 90s version of the horrible Uggs boot trend that seems to have finally ended. But I was totally comfortable in those skirts and dresses! Comfort is key. Now I’m more comfy in jeans, capris or dressy pants, but I often wish my boobs were perky & small enough to run around with no bra all the time! Now THAT would be comfort to not have an underwire jabbing into my side. Alas, the twins need support & can’t be free range 🙁
Free range boobs! Ha! Ha ha ha!
I remember the babydoll dress and broomstick skirt trends. I LOVE broomstick skirts! And when did the Ugg trend end?!? I ADORE my Uggs (well, they are Emus–same difference!) I have four pairs. They are the best trend ever. Yes, they are ugly, but someone decided they are stylish AND they are warm and so comfortable. They were the only thing I wore for the past two winters! So much better than that awful pointy toe boot trend from three years ago. That was painful.
Though I guess now that I’m not teaching, I don’t need insanely comfortable shoes. Or any shoes at all, really!