A Classic

If you asked me to describe myself in a couple of words, "sultry," and/or "mysterious," probably wouldn't really come to mind. I wear my heart on my sleeve most of the time and am far too clumsy, uncoordinated, introverted, nerdy and awkward to ever be sultry. I don't say this negatively. They're traits I've kind of grown to find endearing -- even if they don't facilitate social grace and eloquence. But I guess part of why I so love things like Halloween and fashion as a whole is that they allow you to embrace aspects of your personality that you don't normally think about... or aspects of your personality that are actually totally non-existent.
When I saw this dress at SimplyBe, I was instantly interested in it. I love velvet... I love the texture and romance and classic beauty it possesses. For most of my life, people said things to me like, "You're just a classic beauty -- people would've found you gorgeous 100 years ago." These comments were usually faux-compliments. What most (not all) of these people really meant was, "There's no way your fat body and round face would be considered attractive now by the mainstream, but maybe a century ago that would've been different." The thing is, I kind of get what they mean. I have soft features and a soft body and maybe when those traits were considered signs of wealth and grandeur, I would've had a bunch of suitors lining up and handing in a bride price to my "loving" papa. But I'm actually quite glad I don't live in that time. Maybe fat acceptance was more common, but being a person's property has never sat quite right with me.
Back to this dress, though: I guess I love it because it does remind me of the whole "classic beauty" thing. I used to think of that as a bad thing, because it was so coated by sizeism and bullying undertones and I didn't like being associated with a time when women were so often sold and exchanged. But these days I embrace the "classic beauty" thing, just as I embrace my inherent awkwardness and nerdiness. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can relate to the soft-featured women of the 50's, like Marilyn, for instance.
I also love that this dress kind of juxtaposes a more overt sexiness (bodycons, velvet, red) with a more subdued and "classic" femininity (soft velvet). Though I wouldn't have wanted to be a woman in the Victorian Era, I certainly appreciate delicacy and gracefulness and traditionally womanly things. Often, I find myself experimenting with one or the other. My style tends to float more along the side of traditional femininity, but I do love a good bodycon or fancy lingerie set. It's kind of fun to play with both spectrums and think about the fact that they don't always have to be separate