Dressed for Friday

Now that I've retired, I've gradually lost the rhythm of the week: the reveille rat-tat of Monday, the downhill slope of Thursday, the melancholy late Friday afternoons when I wanted to leave, but an extra hour or two would leave the work in good shape for the inevitable... Monday.

I can feel the progression still, especially the fizz of Friday, when each rider on the bus seems eager, arms full of weekend treats, phones buzzing with plans. "Bon weekend", everyone says when I shop.

People dress a little more cheerfully then, perhaps going out after work, or just relieved to have mustered another week.

At twilight, restaurant terrasses beckon, houses warm with cooking, menorahs glow, two-fours clatter into the fridge, men hoist cuboid toddlers out of car seats. Passing me arm in arm, a seventy-something woman asks her friend, "Shall we eat before or after the play?"   

Whether you spend your day in an office or not, an easy dress signals   palpable relief and enjoyment, and skips out after a long week with singular grace.

Kate Spade "Chessa" knit shirtdress, $388 at Nordstrom. 

Oversize, dove-grey fine cashmere dress by Claudia Schiffer, $895:

 Shirred linen sheath in merlot, Land's End, $110 (in Petite and Plus, too).

 Blue and white print crepe shirt dress by Anna Scholz, £195:

Elie Tahari navy Tess Dress with trapunto-detail belt, $348.

One last dress. I'm entranced, and admit it implies an arty office from which to to exit, or perhaps one's Alfa. College printed georgette shirt dress by Duro Olowu, $1,580.