THE POSSIBILITY OF A COLOR-MAD WEDDING ENSEMBLE

As you know, Miss Alexis is getting married November first, and the wedding will have a "speakeasy" theme. I have always said that the only thing I dread about my kids getting married is having to come up with a "mother-of-the-bride dress." I don't do dresses much anymore. Skirts and boots are about as dressy as I get, and now, not only do I need a dress, I need one with a 20s feel! Of course, dressing in character isn't mandatory, but it would be a lot of fun. Fortunately, I have almost nine months to scour Austin's vintage shops and see what I can come up with, but just in case I can't find anything that just blows me away, I now have a back-up plan!

I have this one dress I bought a year or two ago, and haven't had much chance to wear. It's just a simple shift-like dress, but Lexi's colors are turquoise, black and white, and with all this beading around the neckline, I thought it just might do in a pinch. The only problem is that it's a sleeveless dress, and on November first it could be warmish, or it could be downright nippy! So, I would definitely need some kind of wrap.

Well, yesterday Hubby and I were having a yummy gyro at Cody's Bistro over in San Marcos, when I remembered that the shop next door, called Cally's, carries lots of glitzy stuff. We decided to take a quick look around. The Muses and I had been talking about 20s hairstyles, and the first thing I spotted was a rack full of sparkly headbands that could easily be worn across one's forehead, flapper style.

Score!

As for wraps, they had a lot of really cute silky jacket/shawls with long black fringe along the edge, which would be fantastic over a simple black shift, but none of them even came close to going with this dress. Then I spotted something straight out of those Maisie Dobbs mysteries I love reading. Maisie's best friend Priscilla is a wealthy socialite who buys all her clothes in Paris, and whenever Maisie has to go an "event", Priscilla insists on dragging her upstairs to her dressing room and choosing an ensemble for her. Of course, the whole series takes place in the Roaring Twenties -- the period between the two great wars -- and I just loved the descriptions of Priscilla's glamorous outfits. As you know, women were just beginning to bob their hair around that time, and some were even daring enough to wear trousers! One time Priscilla was wearing a kimono-style top with some loosely draping lounge-style trousers -- what we called "palazzo pants" in the early 70s -- and I suppose the memory of that outfit is what made me do a double-take when I saw this:

It's a gorgeous patchwork of the most luscious fabrics!

I wasn't sure it would even go with that particular dress (it does!), but I liked it enough to go ahead and buy it anyway. I think it would look pretty dang faboo with jeans and boots, and who knows? I may even find me some palazzo pants!