Wear it with your poker face and hop on a bus to Atlantic City. There are plenty of gambling prints out there, but the inclusion of the backgammon board and the fancy 1920's casino scene is unsual. That guy's monocle really does it for me. It is a medium to large and available at http://stores.ebay.com/Pookbiz where you can also find an Alfred Shaheen maxi dress and some other treats.

Gamblers are superstitious types. I used to work with a guy who had a lucky shirt: a horse-race themed novelty print that he wore to the track. I think this might be the one instance where the novelty print is appropriate to wear to the venue it depicts.

Since I invariably lose at games of chance and strategy, I tend to stay away from the dice, the ponies and the baccarat table. I don't even have a lucky shirt. I do have a card suit dress: white fabric printed with clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. But it is more Alice in Wonderland than Mohegan Sun.

On the train this morning I saw a woman carrying a handmade placard which said: "The world at peace, not in pieces." It had collages of the world at peace, symbolized by fruit and nature, and the world blowing up with fragmented scenes of violence. At the bottom it said: Another Granny for Peace". She and I exchanged a grin from across the crowded car and flashed one another the peace sign. What a grand thing, I thought, that there is a universal hand gesture for peace. Then I got to thinking about my idea for a protest dress. What kind of novelty print would express dissent from jingoism, demonstrate the evils of war profiteering, and announce a desire for a peaceful world with health care for all? If you have any ideas, please let me know.

In 2001 I heard about a woman who had created burqas printed with casualty statistics from the war that was then only in Afganistan. She had recruited other women to wear them with her and they assembled in groups in Grand Central Station and other high traffic public places in New York. Since I only heard about it, I've never been able to track down the name of the artist or group. Does anyone know?