As promised, here is the fox dress. The fabric is “A Walk in the Woods — Fox Frolic” by Aneela Hoey for Moda, and I bought mine at equilter.com (although they may be out). I love the expressions on their little foxy faces:
The sweater is from Lands End in a color called “Bittersweet” and matches the little foxes PERFECTLY. You don’t know the downright visceral pleasure it gives me to have colors match perfectly, people. There’s a hierarchy of color-matching thrill, with the lowest level being 1) things bought online from wildly disparate sources, but in the same general timeframe; progressing to 2) things sewn from two different fabrics that pivot around a shared accent; and (best of all) 3 ) combinations assembled from stuff already in my wardrobe, with bonus points if one of the colors is way, way off, like a weird orange or a green not found in nature. I will hoard belts, scarves, sneakers, tights, and cardigans for years, just to have the chance to connect them with something else. (It goes without saying that items sold together and designed to match perfectly DO NOT COUNT. Even Garanimals. The idea is to make your own Garanimals!)
This dress is a lot of fun to wear — it just feels playful. It got a lot of love last week when I was in Portland, too, especially from the gentlemen. And Portland being Portland, it didn’t feel skeevy. Not sure why, but guys dressed in a style I like to call “scholar-lumberjack” (plaid shirt, skinny pants, and sneakers, topped off with heavy glasses and a heavy beard, especially if their physiques are such that I could probably out-bench-press them), saying “Oh, that’s a [effing] awesome dress!” are more adorable than offputting. (Even better if they are making me a delicious iced coffee at the same time.) Of course, I was at a conference that was All About The Love, so perhaps I should have expected it.
I also got an epic head cold while I was in Portland, so it all balances out.
A Dress A Day 
Weird, you’re the 3rd person I’ve read/seen/known this week that just came back from Portland. Were they handing out freebies over there?!
Oh, and the lumberjack/combo person is: Hipster. They’d be pleased that you probably hadn’t heard of it. 😀
LikeLike
They seemed too sweet to be hipsters! But maybe that’s just Portland. 🙂
LikeLike
It’s a really cute dress. Also, I would love to know where those glasses are from (unless they are vintage, in which case I will cry).
LikeLike
Oh — they’re zip+homme glasses, but they’re also about ten years old. It’s style 0063, if that helps!
LikeLike
What pattern did you use? (the dress looks great btw and I also LOVE that fabric)
LikeLike
Thanks! It’s Vogue 9929 — you can see more here.
LikeLike
Funny — I just finished making a “fox” stole from 2 old sweaters:
http://dangerouscraftsforgirls.com/2012/09/19/foxy-ladies/
LikeLike
That is SUPER CUTE.
LikeLike
Thank you! I thought you might be charmed.
LikeLike
Love the foxes, and I am with you on the excitement over matching wardrobe items–that is the best!
LikeLike
This dress is adorable….
Dare I say it???
Lookin’ Foxy! yeah.
LikeLike
Thanks for modelling on your back porch! I like the photos of you so much better than the mannequin photos.
Very cute combo!
LikeLike
Or maybe it’s your front porch – it’s a very nice porch I was just thinking back from the placement of your neighbour’s house.
LikeLike
Erin, do you also get a sense of unbridled joy when you pay with exact change or get the closest parking space? These are rewarding for me in a similar sort of correct-puzzle-piece, smart-girl kind of way.
My mother has always been an exacting matcher of colours. I was brought up with such a strict colour-match ethos that I now get a charge out of mixed-pattern outfits and clashing colours. Oooh, the sheer rebellious thrill of it all!
LikeLike
I don’t care about getting the closest parking space or exact change, but I love it when I can plan a route (walking or driving) where I make a great big circle, without any backtracking. So. Nerdy.
LikeLike
Uhhh…you mean everyone doesn’t do that? I ALWAYS make a circle, or I don’t frickin’ go.
Awesome dress. I’m dyin’ here.
LikeLike
I am the same way with hoarding my accessories until I get a match. One of my co-workers commented on how coordinated my clothes were – I told her it was just a matter of accumulating a lot of things and then digging through them to see what goes together. Like you, it makes my morning when I find a new combo: SCORE!
Love your description of the sweet lumberjack/hipster!
LikeLike
I, too, am a matching fanatic! Things from 20 years ago have been perfect matches to new outfits. But it’s a fine line between saving and “hoarding” accessories. Love the dress. I think the guys in Portland were thinking subliminally that you were FOXY!
LikeLike
3 reasons I loved this post:
1) Love the fabric and the dress.
2)Love the color “bittersweet”.
3) Resonate with the color-matching karma.
LikeLike
LOL! Cute dress, cute fabric. My BFF has dubbed the gentlemen’s sartorial style you describe “Urban Amish.” Totally perfect, right? 🙂
LikeLike
Awesome dress is right. What a great combo.
LikeLike
[…] for granted. And in addition to this plaid, they had some really good fabric, including the fox fabric I posted about the other day. (It’s always fun to see something you’ve already made up […]
LikeLike
everything in this outfit is perfect, down to the glasses and your expression! Great job! LOVE the fabric!
LikeLike
Such a cute dress! I also love when random wardrobe pieces get along so well 🙂
LikeLike
Yes, I live in Portland, and I’ll reluctantly admit that the majority of the younger generation here are a bit, um… odd. I wear my vintage dresses here all the time and get a huge number of compliments, but the way most other people my age dress could be described as creative, strange, ugly, or other words like that! : ) The scenery here though, is gorgeous! Portland has to have something going for it, besides being the Sewing Capital of America.
LikeLike
[…] seen this fox dress before, but here it is again, in more close-up detail: neck binding: side zip: quizzical fox in the […]
LikeLike