Dress Shopping

There are few things in life that leave me realizing how fat I still am than dress shopping.  In fact, it might prove to be a good strategy to make myself go try on dresses anytime I lose workout motivation.  There is great danger that it could backfire and I could go into an emotional tailspin where I come out on the other end of a dark eating binge... but there is also a good chance that realizing how shaky and jiggly and large everything is will encourage me to get myself to the gym.

We are going to a wedding in a few weeks.  It's been ages since we had reason to dress up.  I like dresses- when they are comfortable and flattering.  So I wanted something new, something fun, and something a little stylish.

I am not a shopper.  Not at all.  I don't like to shop.  I don't like trying on clothes.  I don't like going through racks and finding things to try on.  I don't like trying to create outfits.  It makes me tired.

So when I decided that Saturday was going to be The Day I Find A Dress, I wasn't going to fail.

I had no idea it would be such a dramatic experience.  Here's the bottom line.

I bought this dress.  It was outside of what I wanted to spend but I thought it was super great.

Until I got it home.  I didn't have the magic mirror or the sale ladies telling me how gorgeous I looked.  I still liked it- don't get me wrong.  But for the price of the dress ($90) and the belt ($50), I really needed to LOVE it.  There were some make up marks in the white area that mostly came clean in the store (they used clorox type disposable wipes) but for $90, it needed to be perfect.  So I decided to take it back.

Plus, there was this other outfit that I really loved there.  I wasn't going to get it.  It was CRAZY expensive and way outside of any clothing budget I might have set.  But I kind of felt like I bought the black and white one as a consolation prize for not getting the outfit I really loved.

That dress? $160. The shrug- $60. And the $50 belt.  Even if I went and found a shrug cheaper and a belt cheaper, I can't imagine spending $160 on a dress.  No matter how amazing I felt in it.

So I was home and frustrated.  I posted on Facebook that I really need to make a list of friends who like to shop so that I can have serious help in the future.  I also knew that if I didn't find a dress right away, it was going to really bother me and I would lose the interest in buying something new.

So Teagan and I headed to JCPenny.  And she helped me pick out and try on a few things.  Had a couple outfit options that I liked and then Teagan found The Dress.  I found a large black belt to go with it.  Dress- $40. Belt- $15.

Now trying to determine the Perfect Shoes is the next great challenge.  Opinion seems to be going with a deep red for accessories.  A friend loaned me a great bracelet and I think I have a necklace and earrings that would work well with it.  I'm thinking these shoes might be a good choice.

This girly thing is absolutely exhausting.