The Bloggess, who routinely makes me laugh until I snort in a highly unladylike manner, recently talked about a red dress that she coveted.

I want, just once, to wear a bright red, strapless ball gown with no apologies. I want to be shocking, and vivid and wear a dress as intensely amazing as the person I so want to be. And the more I thought about it the more I realized how often we deny ourselves that red dress and all the other capricious, ridiculous, overindulgent and silly things that we desperately want but never let ourselves have because they are simply “not sensible”. Things like flying lessons, and ballet shoes, and breaking into spontaneous song, and building a train set, and crawling onto the roof just to see the stars better. Things like cartwheels and learning how to box and painting encouraging words on your body to remind yourself that you’re worth it.

And I am worth it.

And last week…?

…I got my red dress.

The whole post is worth a read, not only for the sentiment but also for more shots of the dress (modeled in a graveyard, which is a nice touch). It’s a custom-made job by Etsy seller rubypearl, and although it’s expensive (as custom ballgowns sort of tend to be), it’s certainly striking. It’d be a fantastic gown for an alternative wedding, or just a very special party.

The seller also has a blog, I Will Stab You in the Face, which includes a few photos of her past work. She seems to specialize in hand-embroidered detailing, and she turns out some lovely stuff.