With less than 30 days left before its “officially” autumn, I’ve can’t help but dream of the upcoming sweater weather that will keep me from sweating like this summer has. Although I’ve spent the last couple of months inside, I’ve spent this time building out the summer-side of my wardrobe, all of which given how “unnecessary extra” my selections have been has a clear lean towards revenge dressing.

By now I feel like everyone knows about revenge dressing, either from recent fashion articles on the subject or just by simply participating in it,  however, just in case you happen to be unaware, this concept is basically an emotional response with fashion; usually attributed to events like a breakup, think Princess Diana’s dress that she wore after her divorce from Prince Charles.

For many of us who spent the last year and a half in loungewear coming out of quarantine has provided a greater stage for (unapologetically) stepping up our style to make up for lost time. As for me, I love a reason to dress up especially if it’s to mark a special occasion.

Two weeks ago I made a major decision that came with some changes for me, one of them being that I won’t have access to a computer for 2-3 weeks as I wait for a new one to arrive. This may not seem like a long time, but for a workaholic like me this feels like torture. So I’m taking the next two weeks to soak in the last rays of summer, with some style of course, in the form of a well deserved vacation before I move on to this next great venture. (Trust that I will be sharing that news as soon as I can.) And I figured that this dress would be perfect for this occasion, even more so as it has some major Beetlejuice vibes which is fitting as I’m already in a Fall/Halloween mood though it’s still way too warm for it.

Sure this dress is not directly related to Beetlejuice as in that it is not a piece from any of the many film inspired collections that are currently available, but the monochromatic lines of this dress have always reminds me of it. This is actually a work sample of a dress design that I don’t believe they ended up buying, and what’s interesting is that while this had a hi-lo silhouette the “low” part was at the front for some reason. I ended up asking my mother to fix this for me as the fabric is a lot more slinky than I am used to working with on my own. Not only did she even out the hem but she added her own twist by following the direction of the stripes at the front to give this a shark-bite hem – something that I haven’t seen in a maxi dress, let alone one in plus size.

I tucked in some of the front into the elastic waist get more of an asymmetrical/hi-lo look as I knew I would be spending the day walking and taking mass transit which doesn’t tend to work well with a maxi dress when you’re petite like me. I  used this double buckle belt to hide the tuck and it also worked well to give my waist some more definition.  I added a pop of color with my new oxblood Telfar bag that actually went well with the ombre color of  my new favorite sunglasses.

Experience tells me that I’m still going to find a way to get some work done even without a computer but at least one thing is for sure, end of summer revenge dressing is going to be a major part of this two week vacation. (And beyond.)

~Get the look~

Maxi Dress | Old sample from work (similar here and here)
Double Buckle Belt | SimplyBe (old, similar here)
Baroque Sunglasses | Witching Hour Baby
Medium Oxblood Shopping Bag | Telfar *

How are you planning on spending these last days of summer?

*Note: I purchased this bag using the Telfar bag security program back in March. It was a bit of a wait, 5 months to be exact, but the good news is that I managed to get the exact color and size I wanted. Highly recommend doing the same if you’re looking to add one of these to your handbag collection.