What I wore to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society 40th Anniversary performance and gala…
the boden lace mini dress
I bought this dress back in December for a production of Opera Philadelphia in the Kimmel Center Perelman Theatre. Back then, I was herding two children and a husband.
This time around, my business partner (Robert, yes that Robert) and I were invited to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society 40th Anniversary performance and gala thanks to PCMS itself. We naturally brought a plus one each, neither of which were our significant others, just friends of the pod and friends before the pod. Much easier herding everyone from the theater to an intermission bathroom break.
Check out a Reel from the night, after the jump, photos, and credits.
Philadelphia was inexplicable hit with an eighty degree day on March 31st, the night of said gala. I mentally planned to wear this dress; of which I was slightly concerned that it would not be dressy enough even though were were advised both “smart casual” and “come as you are gala” for the dress. The eighty degree, warm and windy day was actually the ideal situation to wear this dress to a dressy party, preceded by performance.
The Boden brand is interesting, as it does not offer a true tall size range outside of jumpsuit styles. In the case of dresses and skirts, which also sometimes cater to the tall woman, the sizes are available in long. I am wearing this dress in a size fourteen long length.
the christian louboutin mamadrague ballet flats
This was not the first time I wore this dress out and about, but it was the maiden voyage for these Christian Louboutin Mamadrague ballet flats.
I initially spied these last year when writing about two pairs of similar shoes with very different price points. I ordered an alternate colorway at the end of 2025 on deep discount via The Outnet. I wore that exact pair so many times during Q1 of 2026, that I invested in the original pair that I fell in love with a year ago after writing about extreme balletcore.
I am wearing these in a size twelve. Please withhold judgement.
dress: Boden • clutch: Brooks Brothers • shoes: Christian Louboutin (also here and here) • bracelet: Fry Powers • necklace: Fry Powers • earrings: J.Crew • watch: Cartier (also here) • nail color: OPI
