Basic dress by Hackwith Design House | size medium, I shortened the sleeves (here it is before)
No6 Clog wedges | mine are the old school, a couple years old, new version in grey suede
Matt & Nat vegan Ohara purse | 15% off at Zady with code GRECHEN15
Kristen Elspeth necklace | mine is silver
I have learned a lot of lessons since becoming much more conscious of what I add to my closet and KEEP in it. More on those specific revelations later, but for today’s purposes, I’ll just say that while I love this dress, it’s not practical for my everyday life because of the dolman sleeves. Lesson learned. It’s a great party dress, I wore it to my step-son’s bar mitzvah party, and it works for dinner with friends, but the sleeves are such that it’s difficult to carry my regular tote bag on my shoulder without the sleeve getting in the way, and bringing the dress “up” with it. If you’re familiar with this type of sleeve, you probably get what I’m talking about. If not, sorry, I don’t know how to explain it any better! It’s just much too fussy for my regular bags.
So, the only way I’m able to wear it comfortably is with a cross body bag. I ordered this one a while ago from Zady because I’ve been wanting to try a vegan Matt & Nat bag, and this one was the first one to really appeal to me (I’m a SUCKER for these frame top closures!!). I intended for this to be my “travel” bag and “going out” bag because it’s much too small for me to carry every day, and I’ve used it once so far, with much success. I love that the faux leather doesn’t look like plastic and that it can easily be a nice clutch without the shoulder strap. It holds a lot more than it looks like it will, and has two inside pockets as well as one on the outside.
I’m conflicted on vegan leather, honestly, as I’ve mentioned before, because while I would like to reduce the amount of leather I wear/consume for ethical reasons, most faux leather isn’t a whole lot better for the environment because it is all petroleum-based. Matt & Nat at least uses 100% recycled plastic as their linings, and tries to be as socially responsible as possible, while holding zero cruelty as their ultimate goal.
Anyway, I’m very pleased with the bag so far, although I don’t use it very often. It will be the bag I bring in my backpack to use at my destination when I travel, and I’ll use it as a clutch when I’m just going out for dinner. I just don’t ever think I’ll be able to pare down enough to be able to use such a small bag every day; I rely so much on my big bags and everything I carry in them…
Incidentally, this does mean I’m selling the small Rag & Bone pilot bag (mine is all black) I got to use for travel. I have used it once, and it’s great, but I like this one better, and don’t need both. If you’re interested, email me and make an offer 🙂
If you’ve joined me on my minimal closet journey and are trying to be more conscious of what/why you buy, what have you learned about styles that work for your lifestyle and styles that don’t? Would a dress like this fit into your everyday wardrobe?
I completely understand what you mean about the sleeves!
I’m tempted by the Hackwith HDH Long-Sleeve top but I’m not sure about those sleeves. (I’m also done shopping as of that last Elizabeth Suzann order!)
i had the long sleeve shirt and i loved it, except mine was polyester, and i really did NOT like the fabric. the new one is not polyester so i think it’s worth a try. i was really disappointed to send it back, the shape was great, i just couldn’t deal with the fabric. i would have made it work in a different material though, sleeves be damned! but i hear you on being finished shopping for a while, anyway, you’ve got some GREAT stuff!!!
I love your recent posts, Grechen. I was going to comment yesterday — I was very close to ordering the Petra backpack, but I didn’t love that the interior was ultrasuede. I feel bad about loving leather bags (one of my family members is vegan), so I’ve wondered about what you think best practices are — I have wanted a backpack for a very long time, but have so many bags. I told myself I need the backpack, because I don’t have one and wear my infant daughter in a carrier a lot of the time, and it’s exhausting to always carry a bag in my hand or on one shoulder, where the strap often falls. My compromise was to sell 2 bags to a consignment shop (1 in, 2 out feels ‘better’ than 1 in, 1 out), and to get a secondhand backpack from eBay (Il Bisonte! my favorite brand). But there is still a ‘true cost’ since it is of course a primarily leather bag, and it was still spendy, though less than for the Petra…anyway, my point if I kind of have one, is that there is no perfect resolution if you engage at all in consumption and acquisition, right? Or: wrong?
I love the dress on you but interesting sleeves do get tricky sometimes. Still, it’s a great look.
right right right. a million times right.
i was writing a minimal closet post on this earlier this week, actually…will try to get it finished for tomorrow!
first, secondhand is always better, because while yes, there is a “cost” to the original production of the leather, and it IS leather, you are helping extend its life, of which i’m sure there are many years left…saving it from obscurity and maybe even the landfill (gasp!!).
even if you had gotten the petra backpack though, if you USE it, love it and wear it, then that is still good, because it doesn’t go to waste. worst is when we buy things and don’t use them, or won’t use them, just letting them sit around. sure, it’s leather, and i’m not sure where it comes from, or even if it is vegetable-tanned, but if you love it, enjoy it, and wear it OUT, then it’s still good. in that case, in my opinion, you have sufficiently honored the creature whose hide you chose to wear.
that’s how i see it anyway, not sure everyone agrees, but you can’t please everyone, right 😉
but yes, if you buy ANYTHING at all, there is no perfect answer – i think all you can do is simply be aware of why and what you’re buying, making a conscious decision to buy or not based on your knowledge the product and how it’s made/where it comes from, then balancing that with the emotional pull of the object.
That dress is THE CUTEST on you!! I love it even more with the shorter sleeves….. and that little pop of color. You’re so fancy 🙂
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I am so with you on the dolman sleeves thing. I think the dress looks great but the issue of practicality is something I have also learned over time. Like just yesterday I saw this cute Sundry sweatshirt in black in a local resale shop – I really loved it but it had dolman sleeves and just thinking about putting on a jacket over it made me put it back on the rack without even trying it on. That is my main issue really, jackets with those type of sleeves – what are your thoughts on that? Have you had that issue? I always wear cross body bags or backpacks, and backpacks would be an issue as well with those sleeves. Anyway, in general too fussy for my lifestyle, though I agree for special occasions fine to have around. I think this speaks to a fantasy I have about being able to pare down my wardrobe so much that I have only a couple pieces in every category of clothing and they all mix and match together and nothing doesn’t go with anything else in my closet. Dolman sleeves definitely make that fantasy difficult, not that I am still trying to achieve it, as I’ve realized it’s impossible. Speaking of which, I recently saw this jacket and liked it quite a bit, but it too has dolman sleeves – thoughts? They are not extreme, though:
http://www.bridgeandburn.com/products/howell-olive-parka-f15?variant=4838651205
PS RE: the above comment — about the jacket I linked to, one thing I thought, aside from the dolman sleeves, was that the white drawstring was problematic, I would have never thought this before the discussion on this site about the white straps on the everlane canvas backpack but now I am always wary of white drawcords/straps on anything. You can wash this parka, but still — do you think the white drawstrings are a problem?
i had a denim jacket with dolman sleeves and they didn’t bother me at all actually. i think with a dress you have the issue where it can ride up, which creates most of the problem? dolman sleeves on shirts or jackets don’t seem to bother me as much.
now, the white drawcord is another story…i might not have thought of it either actually, because the jacket is awesome, but yes, i do think that would bother me. i wonder if you wash it though, would the dye transfer?? 😉 it’s such a small detail, but something that would probably wear on me, just like the straps on the everlane backpack did!
Darn – I wish the neckline on the dress looked half as nice on me as it does on you. Maybe my dress is cut differently – the V is sooooo low and wide. Anyway I love the dress on you and I hope you find a way to keep it in your wardrobe and wear it once in awhile. The bag thing is annoying, though, I agree. In addition to this dress, I have a Helmut Lang top that has the same extreme sleeve cut – and that one is made of a very delicate fabric so I carry my bag in hand while wearing it. Not my fave way to carry a bag but I love the top otherwise.
I’m definitely keeping the dress, it’s just not going to be a wardrobe workhorse. Which is okay. I need “fancy” play dresses in my closet! I’m getting better about being okay with having things I don’t wear all the time….it’s hard though!!
I, too, remain conflicted on leather vs. vegan leather. In the past I tended toward vegan because being cruelty free was important to me, and I always made sure it came from good brands such as Matt & Nat or Bhava. But the fact that this stuff will never biodegrade does bother me quite a bit. Now I buy both, just depending on what works best for my wardrobe, and when I do get leather I try to make sure it was either repurposed or vegetable tanned.
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Oh, yeah…the sleeves are great since you had it altered. I’m not an “everyday dress” person, since it doesn’t fit my lifestyle. But in the summer, I love knit maxi’s or skirts with tanks and tees. I guess because they feel more “free.”
And try as I might, I just don’t feel right in a blazer. I feel like I SHOULD get one, but I don’t think that’s a good enough to reason