Formal Frocks!!

The worst part about coming back from holiday is the washing!

We are just about on top of this now but there are still some dry cleaning and repairs to do.

The most challenging and expensive thing for me is dealing with cleaning of evening gowns from the formal nights on board.  I am not complaining as dressing up is one of the most enjoyable parts of the night life.  So many passengers comment on the fact that everyone almost without exception "scrub up well" when dressed in their finery.

Assessing the cleaning problem!

There are so few opportunities to dress formally these days and so certainly we make the most of it. If sailing from Southampton on a return trip there's no problem regarding amount of clothing that can be taken - the difficulty arises on a fly cruise and weight restrictions.  My husband loves to see me enjoying myself with clothes but he does read the riot act when we are flying and I have to do my usual strop when asked to be sensible as to the quantity!

I just hate leaving out some items as we girls know,  sometimes you feel like wearing a certain dress and sometimes you don't!  Good to have many options..............hmmmm

My favourite black tie designer is Marchesa - so feminine and special but unforgiving if you put on an ounce.  Also like Anna Sui, D & G, Prada ........ this sounds expensive but with careful buying in sales and outlet sites you can accumulate a range of items which suit your shape and style and which you can use over and over again.  (This is the line my long suffering husband is never tired of hearing form me and he enjoys mocking me - but ladies it is so true - isn't it?)

It really is worth the effort and am looking forward to the next jaunt!!

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Something quite remarkable happened as we left the dining room one night - a woman called after me and this was someone who I haven't seen for 27 years - our children went to junior school together and we shared school runs!  How random is that?