Mad for Plaid

I've made no apologies for my new obsession with Isaac Mizrahi for Liz Claiborne. If you've yet to fall in love with him, like me, check this out:This just arrived in my inbox...and I think I gave a silent "Hooray!" {Don't want to disturb my co-workers!} I'm so glad plaid is back. I'm not sure how I'm going to work it in to my wardrobe this fall, but when I do, it needs to be really trendy.


Remember, I just turned 30 this year, so I need to make sure I'm using classic pieces in the right way. Dressing appropriately at 30 can be very tricky. A hem line that's too long or a shirt too boxy and I might look 40. (Gasp!) On the other hand, I can't skew too young and rock a plaid mini...or atleast not without leggings.

A few years ago, I remember I would wear traditional Jackie-O inspired dresses to formal events. Think elegant labels like Oscar de la Renta and Kay Unger. It was a great way to dress - I was a sharp, mature 20-something that could pull it off. This dress is a perfect representation of what I'm talking about in style, not price! {It's available at SAKS for a cool $2,500 right now.}

Now that I'm getting older, I feel like I have to follow the trends more closely and choose classic pieces carefully, or I'll look too old. If I were to rock the Oscar dress to a cocktail party, I'm afraid I would look older than I am.

Instead, I would go with something more like this, from Marc Jacobs: Maybe I am over-analyzing this whole age thing, but I just don't want to be called "Ma'am" by the bartender...that's what it's about these days!

What to wear?

Mr. SDP and I have been invited to a pre-wedding celebration for some friends who are getting married tomorrow. {The wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were held last night...since we're not in the wedding and we're in-town guests, we were not involved.}

Tonight's celebration - I'm guessing - will include all wedding guests. I love this idea, don't you? I think the bride and groom will enjoy being with their guests two nights in a row.

Anyway, the invitation looks like this:

The theme is a "bluegrass supper" and I expect there will be bluegrass music and southern cuisine. So, what to wear???

Here are a few options from my closet...

I wore this dress to my best friend's bridesmaid luncheon - it has a very Tory Burch feel to it with the color scheme and pattern. I don't think it's the most figure flattering dress I've ever worn, but I received a lot of compliments on it.

Secondly, there's this Fumblin' Foe dress...it doesn't really scream southern, bluegrass, or anything like that, but it's really cute. I've only worn it once and it was to the Caty's rehearsal dinner a few weeks ago. {I wear it sans belt!}I'm probably most leaning towards this dress, from Liz Claiborne, that I wore to the Summer Soiree earlier in the month. I think it is the most stunning and with August upon us, there probably aren't many more opportunities to wear it. One important thing to note about all of these options is the fact that tonight's crowd is totally different from any of the crowds where I've worn the other dresses. (Women know how important this is!!!)