Musing on Thrifted Knit Dresses, and a bit on Self Confidence

I briefly mentioned it in my love letter to a summer skirt post, but I've temporarily moved back to Kingston to finish off my thesis. It wasn't going well at home, and considering that I'd like to defend first week of June (which means submitting around May 21st) and I'm still got a ways to go, I figured this was my best option.

Of course, in typical Heather fashion, I decided to do this Friday at noon, and was on a plane headed to Ontario by Sunday evening. But it's worked out well since I'm both house-sitting and bunny-sitting for a friend while she's out of town, so I have the whole place to myself! The downside is that I've left all sewing distractions supplies in Manitoba to keep myself focused.

However, when I was in Manitoba, I went thrift shopping a lot, and found some great gems, all of which have made their way to Ontario with me. Two of my favourites were a couple of knit dresses that I fell in love with, and has encouraged me to wear more dresses this summer!


This first one is a simple grey dress that is ridiculously easy to wear. I've worn it around the house as a casual house dress, but I've also worn it out for lunch with friends and studying in the coffee shop. Would you believe that I paid $4.99 for it? The original price tag - still attached to the dress - was $40!

Although the length is normally too short for me, I'm actually getting more comfortable with showing more of my legs. This from the girl who never showed her legs at all until last summer! I've always had a problem with them, feeling like my calves were too big and chunky. It's strange, ever since my 30th birthday, I've been feeling more confident about myself, and stressing less about insecurities with my body that has always bothered me. Which is funny, because I'm at my heaviest, at the moment. But seeing all these pictures helps re-enforce that confidence, because if I'm honest with myself, I don't think that my legs - or the rest of me - look bad at all. Maybe a little chubby, but not like I've always pictured in my head. Funny how we do such a disservice to ourselves, eh?


Anyways, I also like this dress with tights, although looking at this picture, I think black is too stark. Should've paired it with my green or dark grey tights.


Now this black dress, I absolutely adore. I normally wouldn't have pulled this one off the rack, but I was feeling adventurous at Value Village, and was trying on anything that caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised by this dress, and immediately needed to bring it home. And I paid a whopping $7.99 for it!


I adore the cowl neck, which is normally an issue with my bust size, but worked out well here. The tie helps define my waist where I'm the slimmest, while the pleated skirt just floats away and covers any extra bumps.


I adore both of these dresses, and they've convinced me that I obviously need to make more like them! Poking around, I've found New Look 6722 that might do the trick for a look similar to the black dress, although I'm not a fan of the faux wrap bodice.


Hmm, can't wait to be done with the Thesis. It's interfering with my sewing! Speaking of, guess I should get back to it.

P.S. I think that I need to work on my modeling skills. For instance, I could turn my face in the other direction once and a while! Maybe it's time to re-read Patty's advice on taking good photos.