A GREY MIDI DRESS OUTFIT+ NIGHT AND DAY BOOK REVIEW

Hello readers! Today I'll show you a summer outfit featuring a grey midi dress I made myself. Speaking of summer, do you tend to read more in the summer? If you're looking for a reading recommendation, I have a book review to share: Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.  In addition, I'll show you some shots of Split city. It hasn't been long since my last post about Split city (here), but I'm sure you won't mind seeing more of it. 

Pozdrav čitatelji! Danas ću vam pokazati ljetnu kombnaciju sa sivom midi haljinom koju sam sama napravila. Kada već govorimo o ljetu, je li više volite čitati ljeti? Ako tražite preporuku za čitanje, imam recenziju i preporuku knjige: Noć i dan, roman koji je napisala Virginia Woolf. Uz to, pokazat ću vam nekoliko fotografija grada Splita. Nije prošlo dugo od moje posljednje objave o gradu Splitu, ali sigurna sam da vam neće smetati ponovo vidjeti Split.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO STYLE A GREY MIDI DRESS FOR SUMMER 

If you have a good memory, you might remember that I made this grey midi dress myself. The first complicated dress I ever made. Prior to this one, I sewed one or two summer dresses by hand, but this one was the real deal. I adapted a pattern from Burda, choose the fabric and sewed it the regular way (using a sewing machine). I made this dress as a graduating piece for a fashion sewing course I took.  Read this post to learn about 7 different ways I wore this dress. 

So, how to wear a grey midi dress? I think grey is such an underestimated colour. I didn't use to like it in the past but it has grown on me, especially in the past few years. Now, I cannot get enough of it. A great thing about a grey dress is that it is so easy to style. You can match it with any colour. A dress like this one is easy to dress up and down. You can dress it down by pairing it with driving loafers like I did or by throwing on a denim jacket. Similarly, you can dress it up by pairing with a pair of heels. If you are wearing it in summer time, a hat is a good option.  I actually wore this dress  with heels for a family lunch at the restaurant but then changed into these beige driving loafers.  You can see me sporting an oversize pink bag that comes in handy when travelling. I wasn't actually sightseeing as I was just waiting for the ferry when these photographs were taken, but this could be a good sightseeing outfit. If you want more tips for staying comfortable when travelling in summer, read this post. 

MORE POSTS ABOUT SPLIT CITY

1. What to do in Split city? 

2. How to Find the Best Photo Worhy/ Instagrammable Places in Split?

3. Why exploring Split City on Foot Makes Perfect Sense?

4. Interesting Facts About Split City

5. Is Spring a Good Time to Visit Split city?

6. Split City Urban Photography & Restaurant Dalmatino

7. Sea Therapy at Zenta Bay

8. Sunset in Split city

9. Is Domnius Cathedral's Bell Tower Worth the Visit?

10. Where the Sea is Crystal Clear?

11. Split City and Film Festival

12. Spring in Split city

13. Summer in Split city

14. A Perfect Evening in Split City

15. Summer in Split City

16. Split City update: Summer 2020

17. What to see in Split city?

NIGHT AND DAY, A NOVEL BY VIRGINIA WOOLF

 Today I have another reading recommendation to share with you. This time I will write about a classical work of literature. Night and Day was published in 1919 and it is set in Edwardian England. If you ask me, this novel is one of the most underrated works of Virginia Woolf. I'm not going to say that the novel is a breeze to read, for it is not. It is a rather lengthily and wordy novel. Moreover, the writing style is a bit different than other Virginia's work. Dialogue takes a good portion of this novel. So, I can see why it might not be a favourite with those expecting the typical flow of consciousness. However, this novel is more than worthy of some time and effort. I was very much impressed by this novel. 

In truth, it took me months to read this one. Yes, I've took my time reading Night and Day. I was working overtime during the pandemic so there were times when I had to abandon reading this novel altogether, as lovely as it is. However, even if that hadn't been the case, I think it would have still taken me a rather long time to read it, for there is much to take in. I actually didn't mind that it took me a long time to read it. I wasn't in a hurry to end it. The novel is quite worldly and at times surprisingly philosophical. It is quite slow paced but in a way that makes sense, due to many digressions of thought that often explore the concepts of love and freedom. Its peculiar mix of modern and traditional makes it quite unique.

The novel opens up with with the following paragraph that gives a pretty good indication of what the novel is like: 'It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladies of her class, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. Perhaps a fifth part of her mind was thus occupied, and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment, and played with the things one does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. But although she was silent, she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her, and inclined to let it take its way for the six hundredth time, perhaps, without bringing into play any of her unoccupied faculties. A single glance was enough to show that Mrs. Hilbery was so rich in the gifts which make tea-parties of elderly distinguished people successful, that she scarcely needed any help from her daughter, provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her.'

The introductory paragraph also gives information about Katherine's way of life and her family.  Katherine is a granddaughter of a distinguished poet and belongs to upper class.  A young man who attends the tea party mr Denham described in the very first character will become one of principal characters: "Katharine stirred her tea, and seemed to speculate, so Denham thought, upon the duty of filling somebody else’s cup, but she was really wondering how she was going to keep this strange young man in harmony with the rest. She observed that he was compressing his teacup, so that there was danger lest the thin china might cave inwards. She could see that he was nervous; one would expect a bony young man with his face slightly reddened by the wind, and his hair not altogether smooth, to be nervous in such a party. Further, he probably disliked this kind of thing, and had come out of curiosity, or because her father had invited him—anyhow, he would not be easily combined with the rest."

Night and Day is a rather long novel, almost Victorian in some ways. I wonder if it is not a nod to some Victorian authors. The novel is set in London and albeit the year isn't distinctly named there are references to historical events. One of the novel's main characters Mary is a part of suffragette movement and is fighting for the right of women to vote. We can therefore place it in a specific historical time and context. However, feminism isn't the main subject of this novel. 

Mary and Catherine are both very interesting female characters. Mary in particular is described quite favourably: 'Could any doubt as to the perfect sense and propriety of these statements be disturbing her? No one could have guessed, from the look of her, that she was disturbed at all. A pleasanter and saner woman than Mary Datchet was never seen within a committee-room. She seemed a compound of the autumn leaves and the winter sunshine; less poetically speaking, she showed both gentleness and strength, an indefinable promise of soft maternity blending with her evident fitness for honest labor. '

Many of novel's philosophical passages dwell on personal freedom but the author is wise enough not to limit it to one gender nor to imply that having a job equals emancipation. Men struggle as much as women when it comes into attaining their freedom or even figuring out what freedom means for them and how they are supposed to attain it. Virginia Woolf seems to understand that life isn't easy neither for men nor for women, especially when it comes to the great questions of life and love. The conflict between our individual and social needs is an ongoing struggle.

There are quite a few love triangles in this book and for a long time not much happens that implies these triangles will be resolved. The characters move painfully slow and struggle to grasp one another. I actually didn't mind that, as I found it quite realistic. We are all different people and if we struggle to understand ourselves, surely we must have a hard time understanding others as well?

I like how the author showed a great deal of compassion for all of the characters, at least that is what I felt she did. You can see their flaws and virtues very clearly. You can understand how they sometimes hurt one another without trying to. There are four principal characters in a novel and two of them are females: Mary and Katherine, while the other two are male: Ralph and William. Another female character Cassandra (Katherine's younger cousin) is introduced later on. Needless to say, she become a part of a love triangle herself.

Personally, for me the greatest lesson this novel has to teach is that sometimes- it isn't anyone's fault. Relationships end and begin, sometimes naturally and sometimes with an aid of a third person. We always want to put a blame on somebody because we are afraid to admit how much we don't know- about this world, about ourselves, about everything. It is hard to make sense of this world, even for the intelligent, the well meaning, the good of heart or/and the talented. Maybe it is the world that doesn't make sense, not us. There is always some suffering to be endured, such is the nature of this world. Love cannot make this suffering go away, but it can ease it perhaps. In conclusion, this is a wonderful novel, beautifully written and full of wisdom. If you read it carefully, there is much you can learn from Night and Day. The writing is at times so poetic and beautiful it makes up for the novel's slow pace. It is not a fast or an easy read, at it might not be engaging to some, but it is a great novel nevertheless.

Thank you for stopping by. How have you been? How are you spending your summer? Have a lovely day!