A Modern Day Cinderella?

(Did anyone else notice that yesterday was my 200th post! Oops!)


Last night I did something I hate doing. I went dress shopping.

Long story short, Earl’s mom is getting married in April and while I am not in the wedding, she insisted on buying me a dress. (Probably because she’s never seen me in a dress and thinks that the only way to get me in one is to buy one for me herself.)

The other thing that made the ordeal all that much more irksome is that she wanted to buy the dress at David’s Bridal. Being surrounded by that many white bridal gowns makes me a little dizzy. So anyway, I went to their website and found a dress in the “Special Occasions” tab that I liked… a lot.

I’ve gotten to the point where – in my attempt to never have to enter a mall – I’ve gotten very good at recognizing what will look good on me and what won’t. This dress was nigh on perfect. And, it was purple. How could I go wrong?

Well, this was on January 29th… by February 1st, the dress was nowhere to be found on their website. It had been discontinued.

And so, I constructed another plan… a devious plan.

But this plan was not meant to be either. Tuesday night, we get a call from Earl’s mom, informing us that she’s just gone in for her fitting with the alterations department… and they have three of the dresses in their “Clearance” department.

And thus we took a drive over to the west side last night to try on dresses. (This is where we get to the Cinderella part, don’t worry, it will make sense shortly.)

I being a realist, and knowing that David’s bridal sizes run small, am wary of these dresses. Doubtful, even, that they’ll fit. So, my devious plan is still percolating in the back of my mind. And thus, loitering in my purse (it’s a big purse) is a purple alligator skin heel. One. Sadly, it wasn't glass.

It was just for a color match – you understand – so there was no real reason for me to bring both.

This is the color swatch that matches
the shoes exactly!

And so I tried on the dress I’d originally picked out. And it fit perfectly. I loved everything about it, the neckline, the length, the way the taffeta hung… everything. Except… the fact that the rhinestone details at the waist, were in need of some serious repair. There were pieces missing, others were loose or turned the wrong way.

Worried about the hassle of making them fix these problems, Darlene suggested I try on a few others.

I tried on approximately fifteen other dresses. And because I was surrounded by mirrors, I put on my one heel, because being barefoot in a dress just looks strange when you’re as short as I am. I then proceeded to pretend I was a flamingo and stand on one foot. I looked like an amputee with most of the dresses. It was kind of awesome.

I tried on these:

And a few others that I can’t find pictures of…

And they all had problems. Mostly with neckline or what I like to refer to as “butt cling” and over all, they simply didn’t work for me. There was one dress that hung perfectly. It almost made me take back all of the bad things I’d ever said about chiffon… but the neckline felt like it was choking me… And in the end, we walked up to the checkout with the dress I’d originally chosen.

And this, kids, is why I hate dress shopping. But next, I get to go shoe shopping and believe you me. There is nothing unappealing about that prospect.