A Letter From a Reader: The Gabrielle (Elaine)
I Was Saving My Nice Clothes for Somewhere Special. Then an Ordinary Tuesday Changed My Mind.
Six little things the Gabrielle gets right about dressing at 62, from a woman whose wardrobe was full but who kept wearing the same old trousers.
I am 62, I live in Hervey Bay, and a little while ago I opened my wardrobe to have a proper clear-out. It was not that I had nothing to wear. Quite the opposite. There were dresses with tags still hanging from them, blouses I'd bought for lunches that never quite happened, and a collection of black trousers I seemed to wear for everything.
Every time I took something nice off the hanger, I told myself I would save it. For a birthday. For a dinner. For when there was somewhere worth going. Then an ordinary Tuesday would arrive, and back into the trousers I went.
My daughter Emma looked at the wardrobe and said, quite reasonably, “Mum, what exactly are you saving all these clothes for?” I had no answer. I had spent years waiting for an occasion to feel properly dressed, when most of my life was happening on perfectly ordinary days.
The sort of wardrobe that looks full, until you try to find something you actually want to put on.
I found the Gabrielle while looking for a dress that would not need a reason to leave the house. It was on Portsea Boutique, an Australian boutique, and the navy blue was the one I kept coming back to. No loud print, no complicated fastening, no need to plan an entire outfit around it. Just a simple midi dress with short sleeves and an easy, softly gathered shape.
It arrived, I laid it out on the bed, and I expected it to join the pile of things I would wear “one day”. Instead, the following morning I put it on to go and buy milk. It was the first time in years I had felt nicely dressed for absolutely no reason at all.
The navy Gabrielle laid out on the bed. Nothing fussy, which was rather the point.
I had been waiting for a special occasion to wear something lovely. It took a Tuesday morning to realise I could make the ordinary days count, too.
After wearing it for the everyday things, I began to notice six details that explained why this dress had made it out of the wardrobe when so many others had not.
1. It does not ask you to dress up first
Some dresses seem to demand heels, a handbag and an invitation. This one does not. I put it on with flat sandals to fetch the shopping, then changed only my earrings for lunch with a friend. Same navy dress, no elaborate plan, and I felt right in it both times.
ELAINE'S NOTEThe best thing about it is how little thinking it takes. I can just put it on and go.
2. The sleeves make the whole thing easier
I have a drawer of little cardigans bought solely to go over dresses with straps or bare shoulders. The Gabrielle has simple short sleeves, so I do not immediately start wondering what else I need to wear with it. I can see the neckline, the soft shape and the whole dress without adding another layer.
A simple round neckline and short sleeves. No cardigan required.
ELAINE'S NOTESometimes the nicest feature of a dress is the one that stops you reaching for a cardigan.
3. It has shape without feeling fussy
The gentle gathering gives the dress a little definition, but there is no stiff waistband demanding that I sit up straight for the entire afternoon. The skirt drops away into a soft midi shape. It looks like a dress I chose because I liked it, not one I chose because I was trying to disguise something.
The dress worn from the front and back: simple neckline, short sleeves and a flowing midi length.
ELAINE'S NOTEI like that it has a shape of its own. I do not have to keep rearranging mine.
4. The skirt moves with you
There is enough room in the skirt for ordinary life: walking across the shops, sitting down with a cup of tea, getting in and out of the car. The fabric is a soft, silky-cotton blend, and the dress has that gently flowing look I had been trying to find without buying anything too formal.
Up close: a soft, slightly textured cotton blend that drapes rather than clings.
And a pocket in the side seam, for the reading glasses.
ELAINE'S NOTEI wanted a dress I could spend the day in, not one I was thinking about all day.
5. It has become the first one off the rail
After the first wear, it went straight into the wash and back into rotation. One spring morning I saw it hanging on the line among the towels and realised I had worn it three times that week. That is when I knew it was different from the nice dresses gathering dust in the wardrobe.
The Gabrielle on the line. The nice dress I no longer keep for nice occasions.
ELAINE'S NOTEYou can tell which clothes have earned their place. They are always either being worn or being washed.
6. There is a colour and size for real life
I picked navy because it goes with almost everything I already own. But the Gabrielle comes in other colours too, and the Australian sizing runs from AU 8 to AU 22. I rather like that. Not all of us want the same colour, and certainly not all of us are the same size. A favourite everyday dress ought to give you some choice.
ELAINE'S NOTENavy was my first choice. I have already been looking at the other colours.
The Gabrielle, against the dresses I kept saving
Most of the dresses in my wardrobe were bought with something particular in mind. Here is why this one has found a place in my ordinary week.
✕ Needed a second layer
✕ Required a whole outfit plan
✕ Stayed on the hanger for months
✕ Were never quite for Tuesday
✓ Simple short sleeves
✓ Flowing midi silhouette
✓ Goes with flats or nicer accessories
✓ Several colours and AU sizes
About the price
The Gabrielle is currently A$57.95 at Portsea Boutique, reduced from A$114.00. That is the price shown on the product page as I write this, though of course it is worth checking the page for the latest price and your preferred size.
I have wasted enough money on clothes I hardly wore to know that a lovely dress is not much use if it spends its life on a hanger. What matters to me now is reaching for it again and again. That was the surprise with this one.
Portsea Boutique also has free Australian delivery, and the offer works across the whole shop: two items take 15 percent off your order, and it climbs from there, up to 30 percent. My advice is simply to look at the colour and size options, and think about what you would wear on a normal Tuesday.
So if you have a full wardrobe but still find yourself putting on the same old trousers, perhaps the answer is not another outfit you keep for best. Perhaps it is one you are happy to wear tomorrow morning.
— Elaine
The Gabrielle
- Flowing midi silhouette with gentle gathering
- Simple short sleeves and easy neckline
- Soft silky-cotton blend, with side pockets
- Wear with flats for everyday or dress up for lunch
- Navy blue and 10 other colours, AU 8 to AU 22
- Free Australian delivery & 30-day returns
Stack and save: buy 2 save 15%, buy more and save up to 30%.
See if your size is still in stock