Dress Shopping

This year I have three weddings to go to. One is for one of my best friends from high school. Another is J's best friend since kindergarten (his second wedding). And the third is my cousin up in Michigan. We haven't been to a wedding in years since most of the people we know have already shackled themselves to someone. So three weddings in one year is insane. On top of that, each one is far enough away that we have to fly. While I am happy for everyones impending wedded bliss, there goes our savings.

Two of these weddings are in the next couple of months. J's best friend was going to get married next year, but decided two weeks ago to email and ask us to attend his wedding the day before my birthday (which is May 1 in case you were wondering.) Now, not only are we the only friends he invited to this wedding (so we have to go) but his new wife is a mortician and their vows will be said at her place of work. Yes, people, they are getting married at the funeral home. I can't wait to blog about that.

The next wedding is on Memorial day, at a farm museum on Long Island. I asked what kind of attire we should wear and was told overalls would be ok. Huh.

I decided to opt out of overalls. And this means I needed to go dress shopping. I have not owned a dress in years. Actually, I think the last time I even bought a real dress was for one of the last weddings we went to. I think that was before Ashe was even born. So finding a decent dress I could wear to not one, not two, but three weddings was going to be an event.

Before I went out, I thought about two important things: what I wanted and what my budget was. Budget was low low low since we have three kids to raise on a one income household budget, and all savings being spent on air fare, hotels, and rental cars. So I had limited places to look. As for what I wanted, I want something sexy, something that doesn't look like a circus tent or mumu, and something that matched my black and teal hair. I wanted to find a dress that I would be proud of myself in.

With that in mind, I looked through multiple stores as I ran errands throughout the week. And you know what I found out? I found that each designer for women's clothing suck at communication with one another. I found out that, depending on the designer, I could be anywhere from a size 10 to a 16. Really people? REALLY????? What the hell folks? Can we not get on the same page here and make it easy for us consumers? I don't want to wear a god damn size 16 if I'm not. Preferably I'd love to fit in a size 8 but I'm totally ok with 12. But 16???? Get together designer folks and start coming up with a universal size chart that flows. It can't be that hard. (And while I'm at it, can you jeans people freaking fix your jeans so they actually fit? I'm really tired of having the legs fit tight but the waist area shows a three inch gap. That's just bull and NO ONE wants to see my Haynes panties every time I squat down. Except my husband. And my two year old who tries to put legos down there when he can.)

So off my rant, while I was errand shopping the other day, a dress caught my attention in a store window. I had never been to this store before, I had no idea about prices. But the dress was what I had in mind. Short sleeves, brown and teal, simple, elegant, might work. The following week I went back to check it out. Alas, that particular dress was gone, but I found a bunch that caught my eye and the prices were easy on my wallet.

I grabbed a bunch and headed to the dressing room, where I was met by a very helpful sales lady. I tried on a few dresses and tossed them aside, feeling more like a flowery cake than a woman in a dress. I tried on a few more but they were too big (this is where I get pissy about designer and size issues). Then I went back out to another part of the store and found a few more, including a dress that was teal and black. On the rack it didn't stand out that much. I liked the colors, but it didn't scream "HERE I AM TAKE ME HOME AND I WILL MAKE YOU LOOK SEXAH!!!". It looked like a dress that might fit.

So I wandered back to the dressing room, tried on a few more which looked decent. I almost stopped at one that I thought looked pretty good and three sales lady said it looked pretty. But I had that black and teal dress to try still. SO I threw it on over my head and holy shit. I'm not normally one to say I look good in dresses, but this one time I will say this dress did things to my body I only wish were true. I looked good. Hell, if I didn't know any better, I would have said I looked photo shopped. My breasts looked AWESOME! My butt had curve, but not shelf like where you could place a glass of lemonade and know it would stay there. The way the fabric laid, you couldn't see my three times pregnant stomach flare out. I looked good.

my dress, courtesy of http://www.dressbarn.com/

I stepped out of the dressing room and silence fell as the three sales ladies took me in. And then, I kid you not, the cheering started. Loudly. I was told to twirl around, walk back and forth, and show it off. And I did! I did without embarrassment, without blushing, without feeling awkward. Because this was the dress to die for and I knew it. And so did they. I've never EVER had a standing ovation for trying on a dress but this day I got one and it was the oddest thing to ever go through. Yet it felt good! Who knew a mother of three could look so good in a simple dress?

So now I can't wait for these weddings. I'm going to look good once I find myself a pair of black shoes to match (and maybe lose a couple of pounds). I'll take photos in a few weeks!