Stevie Nicks Minus Everything Cool About Stevie Nicks.

I'm not sure how many of you remember Dots?  Oh Dots. I used to love this store for a couple of reasons.  One, everything was super cheap. Two, everything was super cheap and since both fashion and Jane are fickle, why waste a lot of money on things you will be sick of or that will be out of style soon? Who would have known that I would still be holding on to a myriad of clothing from Dots, years after they closed their doors?  Dots sold most items under $10 and it was the go-to store for clothes that you need to have self-destruct.  For instance, if you were planning to murder someone, you could buy your murderess outfit at Dots for under $20.  After you did the deed, you could take your blood soaked Dots ensemble and throw it in the washing machine whereupon it would dissolve into oblivion. And if you were unfortunate enough to have left behind a fiber (I watch Bones and all the CSIs) at the gruesome crime scene, well, good luck to the lab at trying to match it to any element known to man.  I am not sure where the materials came from for Dots clothing but I'm pretty sure the dress below has some lead paint in it  - but I think I got it on clearance for $5 so what's a little lead poisoning.

I've always been a fan of a faux wrap which is what this dress is.  There was a time when someone thought that wings on sleeves were a cute idea.  As a matter of fact, there have been several times in fashion history that this trend has appeared simply because calmer fashion heads did not prevail. And I bought into this trend every time. Maybe I was a hippy in a former life. These sleeves always remind me of Stevie Nicks minus everything cool about her style.  I probably have 15-20 dresses from this same time frame and probably all from Dots and all with these sleeves.  I clearly didn't wear any of these because if I had and if I had washed them they would not be here today to tell the tale. Or maybe I wore some and didn't wash them. Who knows? I didn't wash my hair today either.  I like bright prints even though you will find me in black 5 days out of 7 because it's slimming and it makes my hair look nice. This dress could be cute if it wasn't for a few things.  First, the hemline is all wrong.  It's too short and too long at the same time, at least for me.  Second, it should be slightly more fitted at the bottom. It seems too wide.  Or maybe I'm too wide. Or maybe it was less wide at the time I bought it but the stretch is actually starting to self-destruct without the assistance of laundering. And the sleeves... I won't lie, I have pulled these dresses out before and thought, "These are keepers. I'll just alter the sleeves to 3/4 style and they would be perfect." Yeah, right. This might have to go into the donate pile.  I'm sure there is a shopper somewhere at a Savers right this minute looking for a dress like this.