Dress Code: Dress Like A Lady

by SHALWAH EVANS

Yep, that is yours truly in the photo.  What can I say, my dress proved the allure of a great dress—all day friends and strangers wanted to know where I found it. Put away your cardigans (though keep them handy—the cool weather will be back soon) and dig back in the closet, ladies.

I pulled this green trapeze number out of mine when I woke up because I was feeling like it was going to be a bright green kind of day.  I was right.  All over the Mission my dress brought questions.  A woman in Mission Pie asked if it was vintage.  It’s not.  I got it from a store on West 8th Street (Know Style, New York) for under $40.  Understanding that not everyone can make it out to New York for a shopping spree I checked out a few stores in the Mission to buy local.

Valencia Street’s Retro Fit and Schauplutz held nice vintage finds.  Retro Fit is great for a sleek mod style.  Originally popularized by 1960s supermodel Twiggy, this shapeless style began to make a raging comeback on runways in the past seven years, and is great for the tall and the leggy.  Schauplutz’ visual merchandising grabbed my attention—immediately I thought about 1940s and 50s dresses from a Sears catalog fashion book I have at home.  The apron dresses and boxy shoulders are barging back in (see Thakoon spring 2009 and pre-spring 2010).  If only they cost as little as they did back in those days (about $6-$10 for a nice dress).

The Goodwill store on Mission Street has a small rack of dresses available—and extra hard to find sizes under 6.  I found a great Mossimo tent dress that depending on the accessories would be perfect for spring, summer and fall.  And don’t worry about footwear–I was able to pull off an elegant number with Nike sneakers.

I absolutely love the opportunity to put on a beautiful dress, and gorgeous, sunny weather in San Francisco says grab yours out of the closet or run out and get one. But hurry up, the fog will roll in and we’ll be pulling out the cardigans.