A Boho Summer Dress: A Classic That Will Never Date

On the day I wore this dress (to the garden centre), a lady complimented me on my “lovely outfit”.

Being complimented on my outfit in public by a stranger has happened to me a handful of times, and it’s quite the nicest thing. I think it goes to show that we don’t compliment strangers often enough, and we should do it more.

I don’t just mean telling them “I love what you’re wearing” or “I like your hair“, but just saying something nice to someone. It’s bound to improve their day. Like I mentioned in my random life hacks post, even just saying hello or waving to people that pass you in a car when you’re walking on a quiet road is a nice thing to do. I once smiled and said good morning to a lady just outside my house as I came out the driveway, and she literally stopped and said thank you, saying that no one says good morning anymore.

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You might just cheer up someone up who needs cheering up by saying something nice, and it’s so easy to do.

I certainly could have done with it last weekend after being screamed at (no exaggeration) by a particularly unpleasant local woman when she didn’t like where I parked. I’m leaving out about 90% of the back story here, but I was parked perfectly legally and not blocking/obstructing anyone or anything. It was a residential road with no parking restrictions, I live round the corner on another road and had a too-complicated-to-explain reason for parking there briefly that one time. Whatever my reasons she wouldn’t have cared, the fact that I didn’t live on that street got her back up.

At about 10,000 decibels she called me a f***ing c*** and a selfish b***h about 10 times for parking “in front of someone’s house” and told me she hoped I’d have a really shitty day.

(You can tell how bad her language was because I’m leaving in the word shitty without any asterisks.)

I was actually in a big rush so NORMALLY I would have calmly gone over to her, and in my quiet headmistress-type voice (another one of my life hacks) told her to call the police if I was doing something wrong, and I’d wait. In my rush, I could only shake my head and laugh and do that “waving a hand down” thing (you know, like when you say “Oh, you!” and do a limp-wristed gesture at someone) as I dashed off and told her I didn’t have time for this, while she continued to scream the same gloriously colourful names at me.

So NOT what I’d intended to talk about in this post… you come here for outfits, I give you Screaming Locals.

And in case you’re wondering, no I did not have a shitty day. I read a great thing recently that said there is some shit you can’t control, but you can always control how you react to it. And I did that, and my day was perfectly fine.

I doubt hers was though… I fear she may have had an aneurysm. Poor woman.

Shop the look:

Let’s change the subject: yes how classic is a pretty boho dress for the summer? [Insert screeching of brakes]

One to which you can add a few simple accessories (bag/similar, belt/similar, hat/similar, shoes, jewellery) and dress it up slightly differently each time. In fact with reference to the hat, I’ll be publishing a 10 Outfits to Wear with a Panama Hat… post this week as I think it’s THE best summer hat anyone can have. So there ; -)

I got this dress a couple of years ago from Cotton Traders (you can see it in its winter configuration here) and still love the coral colour and loose fit. I was wearing this outfit a little while ago when it was summer in Britain (it’s winter now, in the space of five days it went from heatwave to November-like conditions with storms and cold rain), so I’m looking longingly at the sunshine in these photos and wondering how long till it’ll be summer again.

Now see THIS is why I love summer and autumn can go stick it. Summer is never around long enough for us to form any sort of long-lasting relationship, so it’s always fresh and new. No getting sick of each other, no arguing; it’s always out the door before you can say Alexa, play Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince…

Raise a hand if you’re a boho dress fan – oh and let’s share stories of compliments from strangers, not being called a c*** by some hideous piece of human garbage…!

Stay safe, XOXO

P.S. I do actually live in a nice town with (mostly) nice people. I think this one was playing truant from The School of Manners and Etiquette that day. She KEEPS skipping classes apparently, but who knew…?

Dress: Cotton Traders (similar)
Shoes: Asos
Hat: Haps & Caps (similar)
Bag: Mango (similar)
Sunglasses: Asos (similar if sold out)
Belt: Old (I like this one)
Earrings: Orelia (these are similar star hoops)
Necklace: & Other Stories