Inspiration: All in One Breakaway Dress

If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen my post that I was going to be ambitious and try to finish my dress last weekend. If you've followed my blog for any length of time at all, it will come as no surprise that it didn't happen.

I did make some progress on it though - I decided that the wonky panel on my skirt was too wonky and didn't hold the shape I was going for. I put in a different panel, a stained panel, because I decided that a grease stain was better than a wonky shape, amirite?

(Did I mention that last year I did a wonderful thing and pre-washed my fabric? I'm always punished for following the rules for some reason because there was a tube of chapstick in my laundromat that I didn't notice so a huge chunk of my fabric stash is stained. It's so sad. Also I'm too lazy to try freezing it, scraping it, etc.)

I also made a decision on how the top should look and I cut out the panels for that. I also figured out where I want the waistband to sit, and I decided I can get away with elastic instead of a zipper. I could probably get away without elastic even, but eh, might as well.

A personal note: the last few months my life has been completely turned upside down and not in a good way. I want to share what's happening, but I have no idea where to start, what any of it means, or how to move forward so I feel like a post at this point would just be a jumbled mess. But I would like to say a quick thank you to everyone who reads my blog and responds to me here or on social media and is just generally really supportive, even though I've been really terrible at responding and being supportive with you guys. It's means so much to me.

SO.

This is supposed to be an inspiration post so let's get to it, shall we?

My favorite blog in the world is Messy Nessy Chic. A woman after my own adventurous and curious heart, this woman posts amazing and interesting stories from around the world. Every so often she also posts fashion pictures, usually vintage (though I do adore some of her modern fashions around the world!).

These are some photos from the Life archives circa 1944, and it's featuring an all-in-one breakaway dress. I love the idea, though looking through some of the different "looks" I question whether it's an all-in-one outfit because I feel like it would get really bulky under there.

Start out with a gorgeous maxi dress, complete with a HOOD. I love it.

If you're feeling a little warm, show off your pencil skirt underneath. (Which seems to defeat the whole purpose to me... Pencil skirts can be so much more binding than maxi skirts so why suffer unless you know you have to change later? And if that's the case, why not just wear a pencil skirt - why give the appearance of being loose and comfortable?)

And if that's still too warm, just go in shorts. (Which is clearly a bit much. I love the coordinating wardrobe options, but this is clearly not an all-in-one because no one would wear all those clothes together, right? Right?! Or am I radically misunderstanding the concept of an all-in-one breakaway dress this morning?)

And of course you need a swimsuit with a cape. Why not?

Check out more photos here.

I love the idea of a versatile wardrobe, getting to mix and match everything and using the same pieces for different options. I want to create a more mix and match wardrobe myself, I think it's called a capsule wardrobe, but I'm having problems focusing on what I want my look/style to be. It doesn't help that it changes all the time. When I started this blog, I was all about big, puffy 50s dresses and now I'm leaning towards more of a slimmer, 30s/40s silhouette so, eh, maybe I should continue to focus on one piece at a time.

What do you think of the all-in-one breakaway dress? Do you want or have something similar in your wardrobe?