Ok, for those of you following this, neither of the dresses worked out. The first, an adorable chiffon number in chocolate brown that was very Fred and Ginger, was a skosh too tight in the ribcage. Nothing that couldn't have been dealt with, but I'm going to be dancing, for lord's sake, and I need my AIR. (What do you think about this one?)
The second was just laughable. On the surface, it had everything going for it: gunmetal stretch satin, ruching at the bust, three-quarter sleeves. Great color, comfortable, form-fitting. But then, it lost it. The seemingly forgiving ruching at the waist turned out to look like a handy pocket for...something...right at belly level. Not sure what. Ammunition, maybe, or extra Kleenexes. I couldn't get it to lay casually "ruched", so I looked like a very well-dressed kangaroo.
And you know something's wrong when you turn around to show your husband the rear view and he says, "oh, no, honey, no, you can't wear that dress." Who on earth would put a seam down the center of a woman's butt, and then add more drapes of fabric emanating out from that seam? How, and on what planet, would it be more attractive to look like a parade grandstand from the back? My rear looked like the valance in a very fancy boudoir. A noir boudoir, even. So no go. Both dresses will have to go back, and I will have to proceed with Plan D. (Plan A being the first dress, Plan B being shopping, Plan C being ordering on line and hoping for the best.)
The funny thing is, since I began the quest for THE dress, I have worn some outfits that my friends (especially my gay friends, champions of swell dressing) have thought were pretty good. They practically swooned when I pulled out my knee-length lace skirt, slingbacks, charcoal hemp fitted t-shirt and chignon for martinis the other night. I considered wearing that, but I made the mistake of trying to go understated five years ago and felt underdressed. The horror.
Plan D is what I did yesterday: calling up Nordstrom's and asking them to have someone ready to pull as many cocktail dresses in my size and general style as they can and have them ready for me when I get there on Tuesday. This used to be a common service, but with the economy, I don't know if they can still pull it off. Otherwise, I'm on my own. It may work, or I may just have to slog through the confusing arrangement of boutiques until I find or don't find something. I'm taking the lace skirt and the slingbacks in case I have to fall back on Plan E, but let's hope I don't have to go there.
2 comments:
Funny, I think I tried that nightmare ruching dress on too. "Mine" was the purple version and while it made my chest look ample, it did the same for my belly and behind and so had to go. Too bad because it was really comfortable.
Since rumor has it the dress has been found, pictures?
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