In a trademark fashion, Virginia Woolf has written "The New Dress" as a stream-of-consciousness. The narrator is telling the story from a third-person point of view, although with access to the privy thoughts of Mabel Waring, the story's main character. Stream of consciousness is similar to the way a person thinks aloud or as if to have a conversation with oneself. Looking at the story as a whole, the plot is very flat. There is no exposition, although the details of the setting and the character unfold as the story wears on. There is a conflict, though. It is an internal conflict, as Mabel obsesses over what other people must be thinking about her new dress. Even when other people try to discuss things that are important in their own lives, such as their children, Mabel assumes they are giving hidden messages about her own...