Friday, April 24, 2009

Dressing Up: Florida Beach Style

I live in Central Florida, 30 minutes from Daytona Beach and 45 minutes from Orlando. DeLand is a small (but growing) college town where the most commonly seen shoes are flip flops. The standard summer dress for women, apparently, is cutoff shorts and tops that resemble t-shirts. That attire is often seen in nice restaurants on the beach side. I can understand that many tourists just want to relax here and "dressing up" is not on their agenda. That's fine as it certainly helps our local economy! I still have my Virginia (where I was born) dress code and can't seem to let that go. Sooo, I wear flip flops but only at the beach. Since we are going on a beach vacation, I wanted to make something to wear for an evening out for dinner. Of course, most on the time will be spent playing in the waves and strolling the beach. Here's my "dress up" top, V8151, made from 100% cotton knit from Wazoodle. Funny, my Florida top is made with fabric from a Canadian internet source!
The sleeves fit better on me than on Dolly here. I made Dolly's arms a little too fat at the top. I made a pair of white twill pullon pants to wear with it. I'm set for "date night".
I'm continuing my quest for the perfect t-shirt. This Sandra Betzina pattern has darts on the side which help the fit at the top. It looks a bit more formal to me. I guess I'm just not accustomed to tops that fit! I still like my TNT Kwik Sew pattern so I'll be making both patterns in the future I'm sure!
Well, my outfit is made, the suitcase located, and new paperbacks purchased. I think it's time to pull out the bathing suit and, maybe, clean up the house a bit :)

2 comments:

Alicia said...

Have such a great time! I really like your shirt - very cool and floridian without being grungy. I hear you on liking to dress up a bit - I'm the one wearing a skirt and nice cotton top on family trips to Disney World while everyone else is sporting sequined mickey tops and belly bags. Ah, well. I spent high school in northern Virginia so maybe that's it? But it just feels so nice to look nice! Have a great time, enjoy the sun and reading and great food, and relax your socks off. :)

Angelia said...

Great summer print!
FL is very relaxed... so is TN.
I often see people in nice restaurants in jeans and t-shirts.. not me! I love dressing up a bit.. seems more special to go out then.
Have fun on your trip!!!!