Birthday Dress!

My birthday is August 31, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend--coming up in a week and a half! I always make myself a new dress for my birthday. For a long time it was an unbroken line of pink dresses, but last year I broke tradition to use the black and white wax print fabric Cidell got me in Ghana to make a wrap dress of McCall 5314. I earmarked my polka-dotted Paris fabric for this year's dress.

I originally had the idea of making BWOF 05-2008-127, the exclusive design from May. I love the retro styling and it is perfect for the retro print. Then I began to second guess myself. It's not a dress I can should wear to work, though I have a shrug that will go well with the fabric to cover my shoulders and it would be an excuse to make a little short sleeved jacket. Also, it's clearly a summer dress what with the cutout shoulders but that scarf around the neck will be hot so you can't wear it in high summer. It's very distinctive, so how often will I wear it? I don't want to "waste" the fabric.

So then I thought of maybe making a shirtdress or something more utilitarian so I'd get more use out of the fabric, which I love. But now I think I'm leaning back to the BWOF design. It is very birthday celebratory and while I won't wear it often within a year that retro style is firmly entrenched in the collective unconscious and will always be wearable. Of course, as I age I am all too acutely aware of the weight gain that comes with it so who knows for how many years it will fit (though all my weight gain is, alas, below the bust so that helps with empire/full skirt styles like this). But still, I think I'm going to do it. I traced out the pattern last night. At any rate, I have to make a decision before this weekend, because I'll need to sew it then. Am I making a grave mistake? Am I missing any patterns that are both highly festive and office-workable?

And here is an amusing article, which states that 34 is the most expensive year of your life. It appears that this is just an average and that 34 is the median age at which people get married, buy property, etc. Well, I already own property and it seems that I'll never get married (you have to go on a third date before that happens, I hear; I accept any and all donations of blind dates) so hopefully 34 will not be my most expensive year. I guess I should stop buying shoes and start saving, just in case.