New Dress, Same Me

Yesterday I went off in search of a new dress. Not like a "Mother's Day Brunch" kind of dress. More like a formal dinner dress. Except this one was tricky. Because it couldn't look like a mother of the bride kind of thing, but I couldn't show more cleavage than appropriate for a business meeting.

That's because the dress is for the Rutherford Heart Ball, an event that I'm working at, but still have to look good for. It's a fine line. I knew starting the day that it was going to be a long haul. I also knew that I would not be able to find the right dress without trying on a lot of wrong ones. It's the law of numbers. In the end, I went to 11 stores. Tried on 38 dresses. Found one that I didn't have to take out a loan to buy.

I had a beautiful dress picked out pretty early on, but realized that it had two major flaws: 1) it was intended to be worn without a bra and 2) it was a long gown meant for someone taller than 5'2". It went back on the rack as a dire "in case of emergency and nothing else" back of the mind

The one thing that I noticed about every store was the abundance of fish scale dresses. Those dresses that at the bottom have fish scale looking overlapped fabric for the bottom half. I'm not a big fan. I could see how they could provide a forgiving lay in a tight dress for a less than perfect body, but you also have to look like you're wearing a fish scale dress.

The other thing I noticed was that there wasn't a whole lot of selection. I could find about 100+ different styles of jeans, but there weren't a whole lot of non-slutty looking dresses. I think part of the problem was that the dresses I saw were leftover prom or wedding season mother of the bride. Since my age range is between those two, there left a lot to be desired.

Finally, I found one that was black, short but not too short, pretty but not outrageous. I then realized that I would have to find a strapless bra to wear it. That caused a whole different kind of panic. So I let it go, and moved on. In a miraculous twist of fate, I ended up finding a strapless bra before I found another dress. Above is what I'll be sporting for the event.

So, if anyone out there has a very bling-worthy diamond/diamonique/rhinestone/crystal necklace or size 7 1/2 or 8 strappy sandals in silver that they'd let me borrow, let me know. The Ball is Saturday.