Brave New Year!

 

Hat (Loreta Corsetti Couture Millinery); Dress (Betsy & Adam); Faux Fur Stole (eBay)

I happened upon the lace clutch at Macy's months after I got the dress, and added a vintage brooch to the belt;  Black crystal cocktail ring (Macy's); vintage 1940s gold and diamond watch (Wyler, G. Thrapp Jewelers)

Earrings (Givenchy, Macy's)

I found this hat on a field trip to Chicago last Spring with the Indianapolis Museum of Art's Fashion Arts Society, where we visited the studio of couture milliner Loreta Corsetti.  It's not your everyday kind of hat, and I couldn't wait to wear it on New Year's Eve for a gala celebration at the museum.  I knew I was going to wear the hat to ring in the new year and originally thought I'd title this post as "Hatty New Year."  But, I changed my mind after a woman approached our table during a pre-gala dinner at Seasons 52 to tell me how much she admired my New Year's Eve attire, and remarked that I was "so brave" to wear a hat and that she hoped she had the courage to do something similarly fabulous next year.  

Of course, it's always wonderful to receive compliments, but this particular statement was food for thought.  I guess a hat with a cocktail dress is a bold choice, though perhaps less so on New Year's Eve, but I hadn't really considered it brave.  Was it that I was confident enough to wear the hat or was it that the hat gave me confidence?  It's probably a bit of both, and I chose it because is was just so "me."  I loved it; I loved my dress; and I was excited to wear them.  The fact that the outfit was so well received by others was icing on the cake (but a very delicious cake, to be sure!)

I've mentioned it before, but I generally prefer to shop alone, and most of the examples of "buyer's remorse" in my closet are the result of too much emphasis placed on the opinions of shopping companions or overzealous sales clerks when I was otherwise "on the fence" about a particular garment.  As I've gotten older, I find that my wardrobe is more and more driven by what makes me feel my personal best, even when the choices are unconventional.  I suppose that having the courage to be myself could be considered brave, and that is my wish for all of you in 2014.  Have the courage to be unapologetically yourself - it's a brave new year!

Fashion is what you buy; Style is what you do with it!

Linked up with:  Three-fer Thursday, Style Crone, and Style Sessions