"The New Dress" is a short story by the English author Virginia Woolf.
It was written in 1924 whilst Woolf was writing Mrs. Dalloway (which was published the following year).
[1][better source needed] It was not published until 1927 when it appeared in the May edition of The Forum.
The stream-of-consciousness narrative concerns Mabel Waring, deeply self-conscious and insecure as she attends a party hosted by Clarissa Dalloway.
Mabel's new, though old-fashioned dress symbolizes her insecurity; she has gone to great care to have it made but on arrival at the party she sees it in a mirror and immediately announces to herself "No.