Blue Eyes and Purple Dresses

"You know"  he said, while killing bad guys on the PS-3..  "If you could see yourself through my eyes, you wouldn't be so critical." 


I glanced over at him with a sincere smile, but then began to stare deeply into my husband's blue eyes. The thought began to cross my mind, that perhaps...just perhaps, there's a built-in filter attached to the retina of blue eyes...  Perhaps it creates a slimming effect or even a hazy blur that softens images.

"You're welcome." He stated, half joking, half aggravated.  That, (along with a machine gun in the background) snapped me out of the thought and I gave a gracious and honest thank you (but still...I wonder).

All joking aside, I think as women, we always tend  be harder on ourselves then we need to be.  The above resulted from another disappointing day of surfing through websites in search of the perfect 'purple' dress for my daughter's wedding day.

When She requested that I wear purple to the upcoming day, I had no idea how difficult it would be to find something suitable -- for the Mother-of-the-Bride.  For the past 6 months I've sifted through dozens of sites and stopped into several shops but have found nothing that was appropriate. 

I never realized just how many different shades of purple there are.  I settled on matching (or even coordinating) with the dress Tatum is going to wear.  Knowing England can be quite chilly in September, I wanted something that would look nice and be warm and comfy.  But everything out there at the moment is either satin and tafetta (I can't look like a bride's maid) and all made for a very hot summer's day.  If I'm cold, then my whole day will be ruined.  And so....though free time is scarce these days...I committed to making my own.

Well, the finished effect is:  A very soft (and very comfortable) double-knit in a deep 'plumy purple'.  A ruffle along the neckline to indicate the formal function and celebration, a straight skirt with slight gather to keep a mature appearance (I suppose I'll have to act my age that day) and long, slimming sleeves to add a bit of sophistication.  It's been a bit time consuming, but as it pretty much gives a perfect fit I'm going to go with it.  And hubby like's it too (don't know if it's the plunging neckline or the blue-eyes effect) :-)

4 yards double knit @ 4.99 yd      $20
1 yard lining for skirt @ 3.99 yd   $4
Zipper/Thread/Notions                  $10


Look on my face when daughter emailed this week and said "You don't have to wear purple if you don't want to":  Priceless

Note:  Dress has been altered with a full gathered skirt now.  Couldn't handle the 'mature' look. ;-)