I I’m hosting a party in a few weeks and I’ve left it to the last minute. With my recent weight loss, I have a lot more options than I did a couple months ago so I have a valid reason for procrastinating.
Unfortunately, several stores are putting obstacles in my way.
I found what potentially could be a great dress at Femme de Carrière last week. It’s actually a near copy of an amazing Lida Baday dress for 1/3 the price! It needs work but I’m not sure my ever-so-talented (and affordable) dressmaker can do what needs to be done.
The dress is perfect except for the pointy, Gauthier-inspired boobs. So, what’s the big deal? It costs a pretty penny and the store has a “no refund” policy. It’s a chain store so I don’t understand the reasoning behind such an inflexible return policy.
Next, I went to Want. It’s not really my thing and to be honest, I think a lot of the dresses look like high-end skank. The dress is for my son’s party and let’s face it, teenage boys don’t want their mothers looking like Madonna or a whore.
I bumped into a friend who convinced me to give Want another try. So I entered into the Saturday pre-prom craziness. Under strict instructions, I asked “Mimi” to help me. She did a great job of bringing me dresses I’d never choose for myself. To be honest, each one looked better than the next. The winner was a Nicole Miller creation. It was sexy, sophisticated and maybe a bit too much of both for this party. I’m still trying to decide. It was almost double the price of the dress I had liked at that first store.
Mimi shared a few interesting lines (paraphrased below):
If I didn’t want anyone else to show up in the same dress, I’d have to spend at least $400. There was only one dress in my size and she wouldn’t hold it for me (I asked her to hold it for a couple hours as I was leaving for an appointment.) Not only that, she asked if I was going to buy it NOW and if not, she had another customer in the store waiting to try it on. And… you guessed it, no refunds.
Next, I went downtown with a friend. She was on self-designated “dress duty”. BCBG had several fabulous looking dresses. They also had a special promotion. Spend $300 or more and save $100. I heard them calling my name.
I tried several dresses. They were all okay. One looked great but it wasn’t right for the occasion. Connie (who has the patience of a saint) found another that fit perfectly and looked pretty darn good. I couldn’t decide if it was special enough. There were lots of sales staff around but none seemed to offer much by way of service. I asked them to hold it for an hour or two. No can do and of course, they don’t offer refunds. BTW, they wouldn’t let us take a picture either!
Looks like three strikes and I’m out. Stay tuned for further adventures in dress shopping. Trip #3 this weekend!
