In life there are a few special occasions that prompt one to buy a special outfit. Easter, wedding, rare & elusive date night, graduation, etc. In the military, we have homecomings. Homecomings are….ahhh how to say in words? Ever YouTubed a military homecoming? Ok, then you know. They are spectacular. Allow me to paint the scene for you…

A crowd of anxious family members gather together on bleachers. They endure torturing anticipation while their soldiers slowly march in. Homemade signs of every size & design are splattered across the hangar. Tiny little hands wave tiny little American flags. Patriotic country songs play on the loud speakers while a montage of the soldiers is playing on a big screen. Someone with high rank & authority steps up to the podium to commend the heroes on their hard work. At last, the moment comes when the big man behind the podium announces “Go greet your families” and a sea of camouflage uniforms spill over into the crowd. Madness ensues. Cue the kissing, crying, running, hugging, laughing.

It’s wonderful. Sigh.

So, on that note…I need a dress! I regretfully admit that in the past, I would throw on a pair of jeans & a top & say “I’m going as ‘me’”. Knowing that it’s me that he wants to see and he probably doesn’t care what I’m wearing at that moment. Still…I think finding the perfect dress is just part of the anticipation build-up time. There is a laundry list of things that a wife does to prepare for homecoming (clean out the garage, shave your legs, that sort of thing) and there is something significant about being able to tackle this list. Preparing for homecoming means he’s coming home! Well, buying a new dress is on that list. For such a ceremonious event, it needs to be perfect. For some reason, I’m seeing yellow. Perhaps because of the yellow ribbon. Or maybe I just want to stand out. When that crowd of soldiers disperse among the family members, I want him to see me right away. It’s not like I’ll stand out as the excited wife with two kids.

So here are a couple pieces of inspiration…


Love to hear what you think! And if you find something out there that seems like what I’m looking for…do share!