A question for the ladies

Thanks, guys and girls. Lots of good ideas bouncing around here.

All the women's magazines over here seem to talk about the Little Black Dress, from what I've seen of the covers displayed at eye-level as I wait at the supermarket checkout (what else they all talk about is probably inappropriate for a family-friendly site like this one).

The date takes place in early October, and Down Under that makes it the middle of Spring. So definitely warm enough for a sun dress (though here in Melbourne we can have four seasons in one day, so it could be freezing, too. But the good thing about being a writer is you can control the weather. Bwahahaha!!!).

I might just have her wonder about the whole Little White Black Dress thing, until she admits to herself she's nervous and stalling, and she'd better get herself back downstairs, since she's left the poor boy standing on the doorstep.

P.S. I may have to rethink her shoes, too. She owns one pair of school uniform shoes, the previously mentioned fluffy bunny slippers, six pairs of varied sports shoes (runners, trainers, sneakers, gym boots), and one pair of stilettos. Might have to make the stilettos another item "borrowed without asking" from Mum's wardrobe.
 
When I was a young tom boy, I'd have worn trainers with a dress...

Just saying... have you ever walked in stilettos?
 
Yeah, stilettos again, kinda old.

Like Hex says trainers. Or ballet pumps. Or for the girlier option: wedges.
 
Spring ? - then they're out for a forrest walk - or what ??
Did you mention where they'll be going ??
Date, doesn't automatically means bar/resto.
P-l-e-a-s-e don't give her stilettos on, they'll just make her more insecure, as she probably cannot stear them with grace :p
 
Can't she wear the school shoes? If they're like my old ones they'll be smart enough to do the job, and probably practical too.
 
Why a dress? Why not smart trousers with a strappy top and possibly a jacket?

Sandals work - maybe she has a pair in the back of the wardrobe that are a bit girly from when she was MADE to be a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding and ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to wear heels.

And if she is wearing trousers there is no angst about should she have worn stockings or shaved her legs since she owns no stockings.
 
The idea is she's opened the door, and found he's gotten all dressed up. She realises she's got to at least get as dressed up as he has, or he's going to think she doesn't care (she does).

She COULD wear the school shoes. But since they go to the same school, he sees her in them every day. Plus she's had a little super hero accident with them...

They don't HAVE to be stilettos (no, I've never tried to walk in them, Hex, what kind of boy do you think I am?). But I do want her wearing heels-she's-not-used-to, making the effort for him and making herself more nervous at the same time.

Wedges might work, Mouse. After all, she never really wears heels. Stilettos they don't have to be. Just heels she's not used to...

Sandals are possible, but here in Australia she's more likely to have thongs (behave, my American friends -- they're what you call flip-flops). Not really dressed up much.
 
I suggest she wears high heels, rather than stilettos. They are bad enough to walk in, if not used to it, and she might find she needs to hold on to his arm, just to keep upright.
 
Just to return the compliment and say -- what crystal just said!!

Stilettos are very hard to walk in, even for those used to a bit of a heel. When I worked I had to wear good shoes with a high heel, and I could move at a fair lick in them, but even then anything higher and I was all over the place. The kind with a wholly enclosed toe and heel were known as court shoes, but I imagine that's another phrase long extinct.

NB If you make the shoes too strappy, especially with a heel, another drawback is blisters where the straps rub.
 
Quick point on heels - the thinner the heel the more painful the wearers heel becomes - it's all about surface area, but that only starts to hurt after a good long while of wearing them really...like TJ said there are lots of different types of heels, heeled boots and strappy "not even shoes" heels, I'd have her stick to either the wedges as Mouse suggested or some not stiletto court heels, purely because they are easier and comfier to walk around in.

Random info now - I do have a lovely pair of stiletto courts (I am tiny so have a lot of heels) which are surprisingly easy to run in, however the problem with running in any decently high pair of heels isn't the running bit, it's the stopping bit! Also, for me at least, my feet only ever seem to hurt once I stop walking about (if I've been walking around for a long time) if I'm wearing high heels, but that may just be me!

Ah as a tomboy myself, I have a ridiculous love of shoes, I am tiny and have never had a problem walking in them, so I have a lovely collection of heels which I wear with whatever I fancy whenever I fancy hehe...only one pair are a hassle and that is because they are a fraction of an inch too big, which means that they flop sometimes which is infuriating, but other than that it's all good. I'd say as long as you have reasonably good balance on the flat heels shouldn't be too hard, but the walking bit is the problem...
 
It kinda depends what you're used to, as well. If you're used to heels (and I have been, in the past, despite the way men can get twitchy when you're taller than they are -- to my occasional sorrow, I could never be described as tiny) then it's OK to walk in them. If you're not, you risk injury and pain simply walking on the flat.

I like the way your excerpt is sounding, DEO, though I'm sad I couldn't persuade you to try on some strappy, high-heeled shoes. We could add the photo to the one of Boneman in a dress...
 
I used to wear platforms all the time. Every pair of shoes, including my trainers, were platforms. And I could run in them. Nowadays though I can't walk in heels so well. Plus pretty much every pair I own rubs my feet.
 
Another fun feature of the typical Sun Dress (sorry if this has been covered I skimmed, not too quickly but skimmed none the less) is that its almost always sleeveless usually with spaghetti straps. These have a tendancy to slip off narrow shoulders when one is nervous.

I agree with all the previous recommendations of platform heals. My sister was always more TomBoyish than I and she wouldnt touch my heals and would only where platforms. (Usually boots of the combat verity to go with her camouflage skirt.) so they're likly to appear in her closet.

Rare is the girl who can/will raid her mothers closet for cloths and shoes. Least where I'm from. Best Friends of similar body shape are always first choice, followed by sisters (which I dont think your MC has). Mom's closets are ok for formal occasions where you dont especially expect to find anyone interesting, and dont mind looking like your mother.
 
There is no reason she can't wear flat shoes :) I have yet to be invited anywhere that makes me feel tempted to be uncomfortable yet I get complimented on my shoe collection a lot.
 
I'm going for an awkward start to their first date. So I'll use the sundress-strap-falling-down, and I want her in heels she's not used to walking in. I may have her raid her secret stash of clubbing clothes (so secret even I didn't know about it until a minute ago) for something to wear that doesn't come from her mother's wardrobe. She hasn't been sneaking out to nightclubs since a certain unfortunate incident that wasn't really her fault left her grounded for about six months...
 
Strappy tops - does she need to wear a bra? If so are we talking fuller figure? Solid supporting bras have wide straps which need covering up.

Skirts - they take practice not to be indecent, depending on the design. Anything straight, and knee length or shorter needs handling when sitting down, and the wearer remembering to keep their knees together. Also has ride-up potential.

Anything full and flowing needs to be handled when sitting down - as in smoothed round bottom or you finish up either creasing it or sitting on bunched up fabric.

My limited experience with court shoes with heels - and relatively low ones at that - maybe 1/2inch, was that it was my toes that hurt - all my weight crunched onto my toes. Also can finish up with the small of the back hurting as your walking position is different, not to mention your muscles in your legs are being used differently.


And moving away from all the practical details to a couple of characterisation question.

So they are people who like each other - they've got to know each other for a while - and since the whole dressing up thing is unexpected from what you've said, that means neither of them is a dressy person.
Why does he suddenly dress up? Why is it not just cleanest T-shirt and jeans?

Why does she think "ooh dearie me, I must dress up too" NOT "he's dressed up, I didn't think he was like that at all, mm, going off him now".
 
Hey-hey Montero, nobody - at least not in France - is covering up the bra straps anylonger.
They are frankly shown, mostly when the sleeve on one shoulder is drawn down to have the neckline landing oblique/non-symmetric - young persons perceive that as seducing - or may be it's just fashion - hard to tell :p
 
:D Hhm.

Purely from curiosity, and an extension of logic (not that logic has much to do with fashion) does this mean that knicker lines are now to be seen through tight trousers - or are the knickers omitted?

Also in terms of bra straps being seen - are they now extra decorative or cute in some way? Does this include the sort of solid sports bra straps or is it limited to expensive lingerie?

If not, then this rather puts me in mind of the "fashionable" girls adaptation of school uniform, where there was a bit of leeway in terms of skirts (had to be navy blue, design was a bit left up to the wearer). Anyway, some girls wore tight skirts as part of the school uniform, with a slit at the back, with bare legs and white court shoes which sometimes slopped on their feet a bit revealing the scarring and blistering or plasters on their heels from the shoes slopping. So delightful.
Chewing gum was an optional accessory.
 
He-he, Montero ;)
Here's a pic from a site called 'latest tops for college girls' - that should answer several of your questions :p

anivid-albums-strange-world-2-picture1581-shoulder.jpg


Go do some field research - you might find it interesting :rolleyes:
 
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