Just another sign of the times wher ei live.

[Alice Torn]

I have decided to try to sell a few of my dresses at a consignment store, in the small town midwest area where i live. I also want to sell some guy jeans and shirts. I found a store in a town 11 miles away, and the owner said to bring some in and she would take a look at them, to see if she would accept them. She accepted the guy jeans, and one shirt, but told me dresses just do not sell much at all, and that she does not even own one dress!! I am not overly surprised. A GG wearing a dress or skirt is a RARE sighting in this area.

[lingerieLiz]

Where I live it is the same. Only time you see women wearing a dress here is for maybe weddings. I used to travel a lot and was amazed when women had on dresses. Most of them were sales people in the medical field. They don't wear them anymore either. I can cross dress because I wear all women's clothes most of which are casual tops or blouses with jeans. I have prettier tops than many of the women.

[Crissy 107]

That is sad but true about women in dresses. I think we as a group appreciate them much more.

[Kay J]

So true it's up to us to keep the dress maker in business!

[Maid_Marion]

There are a lot of dresses for sale at the Westfarms luxury mall in central CT. Macy's and Nordstrom have a lot of dresses. Maybe other stores as well. I was at Kohl's and a GG had no idea where she could buy a dress!

[GretchenM]

I think dresses have become a more formal wear for parties and the like. Looking at the on-line stores and in the brick and mortar stores I see fewer and fewer dresses and the one that are there tend to be too fashionable for everyday wear. In downtown Denver during the week I see more dresses during the workday, but even then they are in the minority. But in the shopping centers near wealthy neighborhoods there tend to be more dress wearing women and they are in obviously expensive to very expensive dresses. Showing off their economic status? Perhaps. But Alice I think you are quite right about the lack of dresses in the much more common casual times that dominate our lives. Especially in the winter in places where it is cold. It's pants and tops, boots and anything that presents less exposure - even skirts stay in the closet when the temperature drops. Didn't used to be that way. How times change.

[Ressie]

This explains why and how I've bought so many dresses on sale over the last few years. Maybe in the near future only CDs will be wearing them? ;)

[April Rose]

I think it depends on the season as well. You will still see a lot of women in dresses during the summer, at least in the coastal metropolitan areas. In the colder months pants have taken over as more practical, even for dressier occasions.

Even at the TCNE holiday party,last night (Great turnout, by the way) I would say more than half the sisters were in pants outfits, though heels and dressy tops and accessories abounded.

[Stephanie47]

It's the holiday season. Maybe I'll go to the mall and sit with a score pad and keep track of dresses vs pants. I get my fix of lovely women wearing dresses by watching one of my local television stations. Last night my wife even made a comment about the weather girl wearing a knee length really pretty lace dress. She looked as if she was going to a party after her forecast.

[sometimes_miss]

I see plenty of young, single women still wearing dresses & skirts at work, and especially at the night entertainment spots, or when out on the town with their mates. Maybe it's just an age thing?

[GracieRose]

Last night my wife even made a comment about the weather girl wearing a knee length really pretty lace dress. She looked as if she was going to a party after her forecast.
Good observation. It does seem that the only women i see wearing dresses are the newscasters, weather forecasters and Vanna White.

[docrobbysherry]

The thrift stores here have more dresses than anything else in them!:battingeyelashes:

[Alice Torn]

I know there would be more dresses being worn, in California or Florida, or Hawaii. And in higher population area, where some of you live, big cities. I live in a region of Wisconsin smaller towns, and have been to the thrift stores in them, and there are not many dresses. And, this consignment store owner actually told me women don't wear dresses anymore . She admitted she does not own ONE. I have known women also, who said they do not own ONE. I realize, that in winter, cold areas, that is one reason. But , i have seen only one GG, wearing a long skirt with boots, outside of the Amish and Mennonite women in this area. Somehow, the Amish and Mennonite women survive the cold months wearing only dresses! I also, have noticed on Ebay, that the dresses for sale, are not selling much . Many dresses have been on there for many months!! Not selling. O well. That is the time we are in. Will have to just watch the news, weather and sports, and old time TV shows and old movies, or see Alice in the mirror now and then, when feeling up to putting her on.

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DRS, Maybe they aren't selling so well, if they are full of dresses /

[Helen_Highwater]

This discussion about the death of the dress is one we've had in seems many times. Working on the principal of; If we can't sell 'em, we don't stock 'em I looked on the Next web site.

I looked at dresses, skirts, Trousers (inc leggings) and jeans all in size 16. It came out as;

Dresses = 3249
Trousers = 683
Jeans = 423
Skirts = 561

Many of the dresses were day wear, nothing too flashy so what else can you conclude other than:

1. Women are still buying dresses
or
2. There are far more CD'ers than we think.

I'll go with #1

No being balanced about this it's possible that many of the dresses are available in different patterns or colours whereas trousers tend to be mainly black, jeans blue of black. That said there's no getting away from the fact that dresses are there on sale in big numbers and as I say at the top, "If they can't sell 'em....."

One thing that's possibly easily overlooked is some women now wear a dress as a tunic along with leggings. So what we see are a pair of leggings sticking out from a winter coat with a dress concealed underneath. Add to this dresses can be ridiculously cheap it sort of takes away the need to use a charity shore. To illustrate my point (https://www.next.co.uk/style/st440002#814958).

[Alice Torn]

Helen, That may well be true in the UK, in a far more populous area there. I live in a different world here, and dresses are a rare, rare sighting in my region of Wisconsin. I agree with your second point though. More CDers buying them.

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Gracie Rose, Yes, Vanna, for decades and decades always in dresses! Not the norm at all.

[Jean 103]

There are lots of reasons to and not to wear a dress.

You can deal with cold. Like heavier weight material, longer skirt, tights, boots and if required even more undergarments.

The up side to dresses is you put it on and you are done. Shoes and some accessories like earrings and I'm done.

My MOM only wore dresses, did not have even one pair of pants.

My sister didn't have even one dress when I cleaned out her place earlier this year.

I prefer dresses, they just are not always practical. Like if you are going to be running or doing construction. Yes you can wear a tight fitting skirt, still not as practical as shorts or pants.

The problem with dresses is fashion and or not wanting to be seen wearing the same thing all the time.

With a couple pairs of pants and bunch of tops it easier to be different every time you go out.

Everyone is different, I was talking to a woman who had lost everything in a flood. She told me that she was ok as long as she had her uniform. She wore the same thing every day, pants and blouse, all black.

There is a lot more to it, but I wouldn't worry, dresses are not going away.

There are lots of them in the stores. I hit the sale racks, I find dresses labeled with the wrong size and ones I can take in all the time. Like just a couple weeks ago I pulled this beautiful Jennifer Lopez dress off the sale rack, size S. I had seen this dress when it had first come out. I loved it but didn't want to spend that much for it. The one I found looked more like a medium, so I tried it on and yes, and for under 7 dollars like 80% off. I'll be wearing it to Christmas dinner.

Oh , it was at my favorite store, Kohl's

[April Rose]

I have read the criticism before that Americans tend to dress poorly, that is to say overly casually, compared to Europeans, so that may be true. I have never been to Europe and It has been too long since I lived in the Midwest, to have a strong opinion about that. I have noted that the people in Montreal seem to dress more stylishly than we Americans do.

[kayla_bayarea]

Good observation. It does seem that the only women i see wearing dresses are the newscasters, weather forecasters and Vanna White.

Even Vanna won't usually wear dresses outside of her job:

https://www.instyle.com/news/vanna-white-favorite-dresses-wheel-of-fortune

[Mary Lawrence]

There are many professional women in my town. They wear what they want. Some never wear dresses and few always do. The rest wear a day by day mix of mostly pants/blouse/jacket or sweater and less frequently, skirt/blouse/jacket or sweater. I can't remember when my wife last wore a dress, although she does wear a skirt now and then.

[lingerieLiz]

Back in the early 80s to 90s my wife always wore dresses as a professional. It was part of the dress code for most all of the offices. I haven't been in court for many years, but would guess even the lawyers don't all wear dresses. Medical field has gone to scrubs. I used to think nurses with the white starched dresses were cute and sexy. They moved to nylon dresses that you could see their slips under. I bought one of the better white nylon dresses to wear for Halloween. All the gals at the store wanted to see me in it when I tried it on. The owner told me I needed to buy a full slip to wear under it and white nylons so I would need a girdle or garter belt, and a bra. All the women were happy to help me. One brought out a pair of panties and said your going all the way aren't you? They even got me a cap like the nurses wore.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Women tend to dress up more in metropolitan areas. I live in a small rural city, and I can go days without seeing a woman in a dress or a skirt. Even the older professional women wear pants to work around here. In the summer, sometimes you see women, mostly younger ones, wearing casual type dresses.

Women may wear pants for practical reasons such as the cold, but they also wear them because all the other women around them don't wear anything else. GGs tend to follow trends more than crossdressers do (I know a few GGs who are exceptions to this.) If all the other women are wearing pants, they will also wear pants. I don't live as a woman fulltime and I don't have to deal with pressure from other women, so I wear only what I happen to like, even if it is dated.

If you want to sell your dresses, you can always sell them on eBay. Especially if they are a larger and/or taller sizes, there is a big demand for those.

[susan54]

Yet another reason to live in the UK. We have many women choosing to wear dresses or skirts and a much higher acceptance of men doing the same.

[Alice Torn]

Vickie, i don't know. I have been on Ebay every day looking at lots of things,especially size22W dresses, and skirts, but so many have been on there for months, not selling. I am amazed.

[CynthiaD]

I see a lot of women in skirts and dresses here in Texas, especially in summer when the temperatures exceed 100F. Skirts and dresses are much cooler than pants, or even shorts. (In every sense of the word. :) )