We are entering the winter season. Along with the colder weather and shorter days there are many social events. This is the time of the year when people have closed up their summer homes, returned from summer vacations and are getting together to share their summer experiences. Many of the events are formal occasions that require formal attire. I have always loved winter formal dresses. They seem more elegant than the summer fashions.

My husband and I were involved with a formal ball at our church this summer. It was a fund raising event and it was a great deal of fun. I had bought a new dress for the event. My husband could not understand why I could not wear the same dress for his company’s holiday ball. I told him it was a summer dress and that my winter formal dresses were out of style. I have not bought a formal for holiday parities for several years because the company had been doing more casual dinner parties in the past. This year they decided to have a holiday ball at a formal banquet center next to their office building.

I went shopping to look at the winter formal dresses that were available. I was disappointed at the few that were available. The majority of the dresses were in velvet, which I did not want. I mentioned to the clerk in one of the stores that the winter formal dresses seemed out dated to me. She agreed that the styles do not change a great deal from year to year. The embellishments on the dresses may alter, but the basic design remains the same. This gave me an idea. I went home and dug out the formal winter dresses that I have in my closet. One is black sleeveless with a jacket that has sequins. The jacket has shoulder pads that were popular a few years ago. I put on the dress and realized that it still fit well. I took it along and went shopping again, this time to find a jacket or sweater to wear with the dress. One of the clerks suggested a shrug. They had one in the store with three quarter length sleeves. The shrug was black knit with fine threads of gold and silver running through it. It looked great with the dress. The shrug had a deep v-neck so I bought a gold and silver toned necklace and earrings to wear with the outfit.

At the holiday ball I had several women ask me where I had bought my gown. They were complaining about the lack of selection with the winter formal dresses. I am glad that I had bought such a basic dress years ago, because the different accessories did make it seem like a new out fit.