Shift

One summer during high school, I did a dance program at North Carolina Governor’s School. At our very first performance, we did this piece where we all posed in a clump in the middle of the stage. The lights came up, there was no music, and we just stood in stillness for 3 minutes. Then the lights went down, and during the blackout we stayed in our same poses but took one big step to the left. The lights came back up and we stood there some more. And that was the end.

It was actually pretty fun to perform because you could feel the tension in the audience. They weren’t sure if there was a technical difficulty with the music or what. When the lights went down the first time they all cheered (keep in mind these are all high school kids), and when the lights came back on you could hear confused whispers. (Wait…Did they move? I swear there’s something different…)

Why am I telling you this story? Mainly because the name of the dance was “Shift,” and I thought of it when I was wearing this shift dress the other day. But also because I started off the day wearing black suede shoes, then changed into these brown sandals when I went home for lunch because it was starting to rain. So the shoe change was like my subtle step to the left during a blackout. I wonder if anyone at my office noticed that my shoes in the afternoon were not the same as my shoes in the morning. (Hmm…Was she wearing those all day? I swear there’s something different…)

similar Dress ($20) // similar Scarf (on sale) // similar Shoes // Sunglasses (on sale)

Speaking of shifting, see how I’ve changed up the look of this dress over the seasons: