At 54, I Stopped Standing in Front of My Wardrobe

One soft shirt dress that falls past my tummy instead of clinging to it. I wore it to lunch, to the market and to dinner, and I never once tugged at it.

You know the routine. Someone asks you to lunch, nothing fancy, and you end up standing in front of the wardrobe for fifteen minutes. The nice dress is too dressy. The casual one looks like I haven't tried.

Fitted dresses clung to my middle, and the loose ones made me feel like I was wearing a sack. So most of the time I grabbed the same safe thing again.

When the Lorna arrived, I hung it on the wardrobe door the same evening, with my flat sandals underneath. In the morning I didn't have to think. I just put it on.

The moment I put it on

I tried it on in the bedroom mirror before I'd even put the kettle on. The collar sits soft, the buttons go all the way down, and the sleeves roll up just below the elbow, which is exactly where I like them.

And the colour. A soft light blue, with a warm orange and blue print running down the sides.

It was the cut that got me, though. It drapes from the shoulders and falls past my tummy and hips instead of sitting on them.

One dress, ten seconds, and I looked like I'd planned it.

One dress, three very different days

The first time was lunch with a friend at a café by the water. Gold earrings, flat sandals, my straw bag, and that was it. No second outfit on the bed.

A few days later it came with me to the Saturday market, with the same flat sandals and my basket.

The third time was dinner with my husband. Same dress, my good earrings and a pair of heels, and it felt just as right.

→ Read about the Lorna dress

Three things I love about it

If you asked me why I keep reaching for this one, I'd tell you three things.

1. It Falls, It Doesn't Cling.

The shirt-style cut skims down from the shoulders and falls past my middle. At that lunch I was up and down from the table, and I never once tugged at it.

It's the first dress in years I haven't checked in a shop window.

2. Easy on a Warm Day.

It's light and it moves when I walk, so it stayed comfortable from the market in the morning right through to a warm afternoon on a friend's terrace.

Nothing sticks to me, even when the sun comes out.

3. Straight From the Wash.

It's machine washable, which matters to me more than it probably should. Wash it, hang it on the line, and it's ready again.

No dry cleaner and no fuss, so it really does come out every week.

Now, about the price

I paid $79.95 AUD for mine. The page shows $264.95 AUD as the earlier price.

It's on sale because Julie, who started Scott and Daughters, is handing the shop over to her daughters Emily and Charlotte. Once a size is gone, it's gone, so I didn't think about it for long.

What I'd tell you if we were friends

If you're tired of the fifteen minutes in front of the wardrobe, this is the easy answer. It comes in light blue with the warm print, in sizes S to 2XL.

I went with my usual size. Have a look at the size chart on the product page first, so you know how it falls on you.

— Carolyn