Before we’d even booked the flights for our holiday to the South of France, I knew I would pack a maxi dress. For the wonderful quality of light and ambience of the Riviera, my tropical print, coral and blue maxi dress was the only contender.
I’ve been quietly collecting maxi dresses over the last couple of years as they’re just so versatile and easy to wear. I could have readily packed them all but luggage allowance dictated I could only take one (darn those airline restrictions!). For some inexplicable reason, Tall Brown Fox was reticent, nay even territorial about allowing me to intrude into his luggage allowance! Ah well, on this occasion, fortunately, I didn’t have to draw lots to decide on which one to take.
We celebrated my mum-in-law’s birthday when we were there. She had long wanted to visit a couple of special villages; Tourrettes-sur-Loup and Saint Paul de Vence. Both are reknown for their galleries and artistic connections. Marc Chagall, the Russian-French artist lived in Saint Paul for almost 20 years, from 1966 until his death in 1985 and is buried in the village’s cemetery. If you’re ever in Nice, while away an hour or two in the Chagall museum there. You won’t regret it.
Vivid blues are colours that constantly recur in his work, so I felt I was honouring the spirit of Chagall in my outfit.
I have to be careful with citrus colours as they don’t compliment my skin tone. However, soft oranges, corals and peaches are fine, especially if the colour is balanced out by others, as with this dress. The coral is the canvas for the cobalt blue, turquoise, black and ivory to dance upon.
I adore the fact that although the pattern is floral, it’s not a ‘twee’ floral. The flowers are BIG and bold. They want to be noticed. They hang, swing and swirl around each other like exotic dancers, creating a feeling of movement. With the high waistband, the material drapes and falls beautifully, making it so comfortable to stroll around in, I feel like I’m gliding.
Did you know moonstone (my ring) is associated with new beginnings and good fortune? Seemed appropriate to wear on a birthday.
The bolero comes from another dress but the blues match so well, it’s as it they were a two piece. Did you spot the 3 dainty buttons on the sleeve? Ahhh, I’m not just giving you a wry turn of the head, you see. I give you detail.
Temperatures in the South of France in May are pleasantly warm rather than scorching – thank goodness – but you still have to be careful about burning. The bolero protected my shoulders from the sun, without making me feel hot and grumpy.
And you wouldn’t want to see me hot and grumpy. It ain’t pretty.
I happily admit to loathing wearing suncream. Of course, I do wear it. I’m not rash, my dears! With my celtic genes, there’s no escaping the dreaded greasing of skin, but I avoid it where possible.
As the two villages were about an hour’s drive away, it meant we’d be out all day and well into the night, only returning chez nous after
the evening’s birthday meal.
Wearing an outfit that’s both comfortable
for daytime sight-seeing, yet is ‘dress-y’ enough for a celebration meal in a
smart restaurant can be challenging but that’s where this maxi
dress came up trumps. All I had to do was swap the bolero for a wrap, the shoes for latticed wedges!
With the amount of walking we were going to do, footwear had to be pratical first, pretty second. Hill top villages and cobbled streets may sound romantic but coupled with steep steps, they aren’t forgiving. For the sightseeing, I wore my trusted cream Skechers. I can walk miles in these whilst they feel as soft as slippers.
Luckily, I could leave my turquoise wedges in the car, all ready for a quick change when we went to the restaurant.
And yes, my feet did look gorgeous.
Don’t worry, I didn’t turn into Cinderella and leave one shoe behind at the ball. By the time we got home, long after midnight had chimed, bellies groaning under the weight of delicious French cuisine and champagne, it was all I could do to take a photograph of one wedge against the pattern of the dress.
What? You wanted one of me wearing them WITH the dress?
I reiterate, there was alot of cuisine and … ‘hic’, champagne…
Maxi Dress Wallis Petite
Skechers slip on trainers
New Look Turquoise Wedges
Linking up with / Turning Heads Tuesday / Style Swap Tuesdays / Confident Twosday / The Wednesday Pants / What I wore Wednesday / TARDIS Tuesday / Passion 4 Fashion
A Lovely Little Wardrobe /#iwillwearwhatilike /
Love those tuquoise shoes…that was brilliant to bring them for the evening!! jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks Jodie. They made the transition from day to night smooth and good to be able to put something else on to feel like you've changed for the evening. They're favourites of mine because of the colour and the swirling pattern of the straps. And it helps that they are super comfortable to wear being wedges!
You can never have too many maxi dresses and this one is too cute! I love the color on you! You look gorgeous!!
<3 Shannon
Upbeat Soles
Quite agree Shannon. My collection of maxis is every expanding! Thanks for your lovely comments.
I love maxi dresses too. Yours here is adorable! Pretty shoes, such an amazing colour! And the bracelet and the ring are nice pieces to go with the look.
Thank you Olga. I fell in love with the colour and it's unusual to find shoes in turquoise so I had to make them mine!
This maxi is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously lovely (I have maxi envy!) . I also notice you are wearing a beautiful TARDIS blue cardie, so if felt you wanted to link up with TARDIS Tuesday (see my Monday post), that would be just lovely!x
Thanks Kezzie. It's one of my favourite maxi dresses. Ah, yes, the cardie is a TARDIS blue, isn't it? I shall link.
The shoes are really sexy… can you walk in them? I mean, longer than from the car to the restaurant? I'm on a mission to find pretty shoes you can actually walk in (not very successful, I'm afraid)
Hi Tiina, your comment made me laugh (in a good way). They are sexy, aren't they? Yes, they are comfortable and I can definitely walk in them for longer than car to restaurant! I can't bear shoes where you feel discomfort after more than half an hour, so I sympathise. The heel is 7cms – a height I can deal with for long periods when standing/walking! I find wedge sandals more comfortable to wear than stilettos, so have quite a few pairs now in different colours. New Look have changed their designs this year so they don't have as many strappy ones like these turquoise ones but they still have a few.
I love the turquoise blue strappy heels woo! I think you did the artist justice wearing your blue. I too like some bold prints and the colors are just right with your complexion! Lovely! Every time I read your post, I want to jet off to France!
Thanks for linking up with Turning Heads Tuesday!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
Thanks Jess, I think he would've appreciated the colours too!
Maxi dresses are so great for travel! Love the print.
Amy Ann
Straight A Style
They so are Amy. I can scrunch this one up and stuff it in a bag and it still comes out looking great. Thanks for stopping by.
Gorgeous maxi dress and shrug. I am not a big fan of twee either, unless I can heap on the 'tude in other places. And like you, suncream? Gaaa. I hate the stuff, so I try to cover up with fabric as much as I can. Still, my face demands it. Your moonstone ring is also beautiful – it's one of my favourite stones.
Thank you Melanie. I know what you mean about heaping on the 'tude! You think by now they'd be able to create suncream that didn't smell so ghastly. So glad to meet another moonstone lover. It is an extraordinary stone.
I'm glad that you started blogging! I remember your kind and fun comment on my interview – I went to check you out back then, but there was no blog yet. So I'm happy that you started! 🙂
I'm with you on many things here – I do love maxi dresses, and I also collected a bunch in the last 2 years. My skin is also fair and in need of protection, but I don't use the sunscreen every day – only when I go outdoors (to spend a day on the beach, that sort of thing). I only buy comfortable shoes, and I agree – wedges are in general more comfortable compared to heels, but mostly it depends on the soles. I'm sure there were more things I wanted to say… but I'm forgetting what they were. Oh! I also have salt in my veins, despite the fact that I was born and raised very far away from the ocean. 🙂 I'd love to visit the Marc Chagall museum! Some day, hopefully…
Happy new beginning!!
Yes, baby steps, Natalia, with the blogging but we're getting there! How kind you remember me from your interview. I loved reading it. It's one of my favourites out of the series. I think I have more wedges in the wardrobe than ordinary heels now!
Thanks so much for your kind words.
Did I forget to say that you look gorgeous in your maxi dress? You do look beautiful!! And yes, such a great bold design!
Aw, thank you Natalia. I always feel very happy when wearing the dress.
Jacqueline, this is a fantastic post. I love this maxi dress, both the style and the colours. The wedge sandals are perfect too as is the colour of your shrug. Hasn't your hair grown a lot since then!
Anna x
Oh I know – the locks are in desperate need of a cut! I'm hoping they'll be trimmed next week as they're getting rather unruly! This dress was a real find (cheap as chips on e-bay!). I wasn't sure at the time I bought it if it would work on me as it's quite a bold print and colour but I should trust my instincts more because I know that I do actually look better in prints/colour. I somehow look lost in plain, neutral coloured clothes. Thank you Anna, for finding this post from Catherine's link-up.