The brown dress in much shapelier days. The vintage necklace resurfaced in 2013.
2009 – The brown dress in much shapelier days. The vintage necklace resurfaced in 2013.  That year, Leon had surprised me with tickets to the ball and flew in from Vancouver to spend a very short weekend with me.

The one post that people view on my blog carries the title Army Ball.  A friend in Australia just mentioned she would be attending the Army Ball in Darwin this coming August.  I was interested to hear about her gown.  With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to search back and look at the gowns I have worn over the years.  Unfortunately, I only have 4 years available in digital version.  The other 2 years, I wore black gowns.  The first time I attended an Army Ball (any ball for that matter), I wore a 2 piece black gown with lace and sequin top and heavy satin bottom with a small train.  The following year, I wore a borrowed black gown which had spaghetti straps to which I added a small black satin and pearl bow.  Since then, my dresses have been brown, navy and champagne.  I’ve worn the brown dress 3 times, with different accessories, most recently with a vintage style coat I made for this year’s theme, 1914.  I think I will retire that one soon as it doesn’t seem to have much of a shape anymore.  Or maybe I am the one who is losing her shape?

 

 

Remember the doomed dress from Hoi An? Well this is the dress I ended up buying and wearing. I think it's pretty hot. And the ball was a blast too!
2012 – Remember the doomed dress from Hoi An? Well this is the dress I ended up buying and wearing. I think it’s pretty hot. And the ball was a blast too!  Last year, my daughter wore it to a wedding.  You can’t imagine how lovely she looked in it.

 

My academy award look. Don't I look like an Oscar?
2013- My academy award look. Don’t I look like an Oscar?  Note that I seem to look better with short hair than the updo.
My vintage outfit consisted of a coat, opera length gloves and a matching bag.
2014- My vintage outfit consisted of a coat, opera length gloves and a matching bag. I looked much more up to date once I changed the coat and gloves for a stylish shawl and brooch later in the evening. Very similar to the look in 2009, actually, except that Leon wore a stylish tuxedo instead of his mess kit.