I am a sucker for anything aquatic. And this dress does it all. Shells and seaweed (or is that coral?), and aqua background, and a draped front split at the feet to trail behind you like tendrils. A hostess with the mostest dress for sure.

Too long on me, alas. The ebayer says the lot of dresses she has available are all from the same owner. She was a party girl because there's a whole stable of hostess dresses available with Hawaiian motifs, eye-scalding patterns, and beautiful faux Grecian drapery. Whoever the previous owner was, I'm sure she was lots of fun. Probably smoked cigarettes with a holder and called everyone darling, mostly because she was better at faces than names. I imagine her hobbies like scuba-diving, esperanto and blackjack. Maybe she liked to get her hands dirty at a pottery wheel, or play the harpsicord, something to surprize the neighbors. She had an analyst, of course, along with an astrologer and a psychic to help her make the really difficult decisions like whether or not to do over her boudoir in red silk. But she'd quote Schopenhauer or Mao in casual conversations so you knew she wasn't all icing and no cake. She was quick with a joke or a valium when you were feeling down. You could always stop by the back door of her avocado-colored kitchen and coffee klastch for hours. And she threw theme parties with cheese fondue and flambéed hors d'oeuvres. I imaigne she probably had a philandering husband but didn't care since she was too busy with love affairs of her own, darling.

And everyone was always talking about her. That Mrs. So-and-So, they'd say, you just never know what she will do. Maybe all my ideas about her were just the rumors they created. Maybe she was shy and pliant, uncompromising only in her love for eye-catching evening wear. But somehow I think she had to be as fun as her clothes.