Woman in a burgundy satin halter dress with black leather panels and silver buckles against a wall of peeling paint

Straps and belts · Summer · Autumn

Burgundy satin halter dress with leather panels and buckles

A burgundy satin halter dress crossed with black leather panels, clipped at the waist with buckles, open at the sides and cut to an uneven hem.

A halter dress in burgundy satin with a black leather apron panel running from one shoulder strap across the body and down into the skirt, the two fabrics meeting at the waist under a silver buckle clip. The waist is cut out at the sides and bridged by elastic straps, so the dress sits on the frame rather than around it. A second leather panel hangs from a clip at the hip and swings when she walks.

The skirt is gathered satin on one side, leather on the other, with a hem that drops in points to the knee. Summer nights and the warm end of autumn, a club with a bad floor, a building nobody has repainted since the war. Black heeled sandals; a boot if the floor is really that bad.

The paint is peeling. So is my patience. Only one of us photographs well.