Premieres and Party Frocks

So, tomorrow we’re off to the London premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy.

For those of you who don’t already know, the husband wrote the Marvel comic book run, back between 2008 and 2010 that the movie nods vigorously at. It’s not an adaptation of the book, but it uses the same line-up of characters and it’s very much in the same spirit.

The husband was invited by director James Gunn on a couple of set visits. He met cast and crew, saw concept art and read the script. It was, and is, all very exciting.

The three of us, the husband, the dort and I are off to the movies. I haven’t been to this sort of red carpet event before, although the husband did take the dort to one of the Superman premieres a few years ago.

There are, of course, preparations to be made.

The director and the stars will get gussied up. I’ll look forward to that. I love a good frock and a bit of bling. The rest of us have been advised that ‘business casual’ is the order of the day. Not a problem.

We went shopping yesterday for something for the dort to wear. She loves clothes. I bloody love clothes, too.

Is anyone surprised that I didn’t want to buy a new frock?

I plan to wear a dress. I’m not much of a separates person, except for jeans. I wear jeans in various guises a lot. I do own a few skirts, but I like a frock. I’ve got a lot of them.

Apparently, though, I’m not like other women.

When I heard about this event, I trawled through my already fairly extensive wardrobe for the right frock. I selected four possible dresses to choose from. The dort added a fifth, something very summery, since, you know, it’s very summery right now.

I did try on a couple of dresses while I was shopping with the dort, and I did buy one, but not for this event. I bought one because I liked it. I’ll wear it in the autumn when the weather’s a bit cooler. I’ll wear it when I’m not wearing it for the first time to an event.

I understand that everyone likes to look her best at a big do. I like to look my best too. I also like to feel comfortable and secure in a frock that I trust. I’ll buy a new frock for a big event if it’s a family wedding or something where I’ll know everyone. That’s fine.

This is a public event and I won’t know anyone except for the people I came with, the husband and the dort. The frock is a sort of security blanket. The frock has gone down well before. It’s a proper grown-up, serious frock. It hasn’t ever frightened the horses, or been sniffed or laughed at. Once or twice I might even have been complimented on my frock.

There are other advantages, too. I know it doesn’t chafe or ride up. I know it doesn’t show anything it shouldn’t, crease badly when I sit in it, make me sweat or itch, or... I don’t know... glow in the dark.

Last, but not least, I like quality clothes, and I’m not prepared to splash out quite large sums of money for the hell of it. I have to really like something to invest in it. The dress I have chosen to wear is ten years old and I’d put good money on the fact that no one else will be wearing one like it tomorrow.

There will be other middle-aged women at the movie premiere, and you can bet that when they shopped for their dresses they tried on the same frocks in the same shops that I selected yesterday. If I’d bought one of them, there’s a pretty decent chance I’d have been duplicating something that someone else is bound to be wearing. I really didn’t want to be responsible for embarrassing another woman or myself at an event like that, now did I?

So, tomorrow, I’ll be wearing a ten year old Hugo Boss frock. It’s one of my very favourites. I have fond memories of wearing it on several occasions, including at a very fine dinner in Paris. In fact, I like this dress so much that I have it in two sizes. I got the second massively reduced in a sale at my favourite boutique.

I love a good frock, and this one’s just the trick for this event.

Call me weird, if you like. Perhaps I am a bit weird, but I know that I shall be confident in my frock, and that all will be well with the World.

Not for nothing, I did buy new shoes to go with the frock.