Wardrobe Wednesday: The Quest for a Dress

Today I’m linking up with The Pleated Poppy and Nina of Momma Go Round who’s hosting the Party Attire theme of:

Did you get your party dresses all ready to show off?

I did.

Or at least I tried my darndest.

Here’s the story:

A while back, I scored a fabulous lace dress at a boutique in my hometown.

The original price-tag: $285.

What I paid: $25

Pretty sweet, huh?

Just one small problem.

Or big problem…depending on how you look at it, since the dress was a tad roomy.

I thought, “No problem. I can sew. Sort of. Surely, I can do a few easy nips and tucks.”

Problem was, every single person I talked to who had any experience in sewing found at least one reason why it wasn’t going to be an easy fix—the zipper, the lace, the gathers at the waist…

I kept putting it off, until yesterday, when I finally decided that I was either going to have to chop the thing up and live with the consequences or find something else to wear.

Now, I don’t have a Christmas party to go to for another week +, so I used the party dress theme as an excuse to get all fancy for a long overdue date with my hubby.

And since I really like the lace dress and don’t really want to chop it, I chose the something-else-to-wear option and, at 4:00 PM yesterday, started tearing through my closet like… well…like a girl who’s got a hot date with her hot husband in less than two hours and doesn’t have a clue what to wear.

After 15 wasted minutes, I realized I was going to be wasting many more critiquing every little thing wrong with every dress I already owned.

So, I decided to head to Target where I have seen at least 2 cute dresses I wanted to buy every time I’ve been there for the last six months. (Of course, I didn’t buy them since buying retail is kind of pointless when you run a 100% thrifted style-blog).

I thought, “Hey, this’ll be easy. I’ll bring shoes and accessories for several different options, and then nab the first pretty party dress I see, do a presto-change-o in the car(o), and meet up with the hubs right on time.”

Um…not so much.

Apparently, I missed the memo announcing that cropped boxy shirts and tube minis are the only thing acceptable as party-wear.

Ick.

Feeling a bit desperate (it was 5:40, I was still wearing my ratty jeans and sweater from house-cleaning earlier that day, and Shaun and I had dinner reservations at 6:00), I headed to Kohl’s, which was the closest option, although it’s one I usually don’t take advantage of (a nice way of saying I never shop there).

Long story short, I spent 20 minutes frantically combing the racks, muttering to myself, and shaking my head.

At some point during my shopping conundrum, I picked up the ruffled champagne and black sheath I ended up in.

It was hardly what I had envisioned (included in my accessories bag were a pair of turquoise tights and silver pumps…let’s just say I was thinking of something a little less “my grandma’s 50th wedding anniversary/vow renewal bash”).

Still, at 6:02, I was desperate enough to actually try it on.

And what do you know?

It fit perfectly, and while, yes, Grandma would think it appropriate, I knew my husband would like it too (not because he has grandma taste…though, if you’ve never heard his thoughts on my “grandma dresses”…), so I checked the dress for sensors, tore the tags off, took them to front and paid, then walked out wearing my new party dress.

Not my normal method for dress-shopping, for sure, but it worked out all right this time.

Oh, and did you notice my smooth, shiny curls?

Those were made possible by my awesome friend and stylist, Hollie Smith, who patiently battled my frizzies and bird’s nests until they were gone, gone.

If you’re looking for a fabulous stylist and live in my area, why don’t you give Hollie a shout?

She’s super-cute, talented, fun, and reasonably priced, which = stylist gold in my book.

Here’s her digits: 903-330-1855 (and yes, I posted that with her approval).

Oh, and it’s not exactly a party dress, but here’s another not 100% thrifted (though pretty darn close) outfit I got a pic of from the past week.

I had a table at a “guilt-free Christmas shopping” event with over 40 other vendors at my home-church. It was awesome because 10% of the proceeds go to missions, I got to chat with and check out other sellers (including Mandy and several other of my friends).

These are two of my longtime best friends, Katie (middle), who is raising support to work full-time in ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Stef (right), who has a heart for Africa.

P.S. If you’ve been paying attention to a) my posting schedule, and/or b) the “Blogging Around the Christmas Tree” schedule, you might be wondering why Tuesday came and went with no post and no mention of Christmas-scapes.  Well, it wasn’t for lack of trying. The pictures were edited, the sentences bubbling in my brain…but my keyboard decided to go haywire on me, and let me tell you, it ain’t easy writing a blog-post without a functioning “enter” key.

But I’m happy to report that everything’s back to normal now, and I’ll be showing you my Christmas-scape very soon. Stay tuned. If you haven’t already be sure to head on over to visit Aimee at It’s Overflowing to see all the fun Christmas-scapes that she and everybody else came up with!

P.P.S. No particular theme for 5 Things Thursday this week, but if you want to link up, I’d be thrilled!