You probably think there was some sort of life and death situation at hand...nah, just a fashion emergency.
You see, I'm getting ready to take a trip. Not just any trip...a conference at which I'm speaking. Me? Speaking at a conference? I'm still pinching myself. And as I always do when these types of events come up on the calendar, I put too much pressure on myself to choose the perfect outfits that will make the 'just-right' impression and let all these folks know how fabulous I am (I know...it sounds crazy when I type it out). Shouldn't I have better things to do?
So my beau and I were rushing around the mall Saturday to hunt for some pieces for my travel wardrobe. Did I mention it was our second mall trip of the day? I'd sent him to Gap to return all the stuff I bought during our first trip of the day...why it looked amazing in the dressing room and then awful at home I'll never know.
While he was doing that, I raced in and out of every mall store I could think of with no luck (it was almost time for the mall to close). My beau found me, near tears, in the junior's department of Dillard's (NOT a good place to be when you're feeling less than fabulous).
He was trying to say everything he could think of to make me feel better.
"What about Cache? That place has tons of sparkly dresses that might work for your trip."
I looked at him like he was crazy.
I'm not trying to disparage Cache or anyone who might shop there, but I didn't think the store would have anything that was really my style (or size). He kept on about it until I gave in.
This is where I should probably note that men and women are so very different. Anytime a clothing store employee asks me if I need help finding anything, I always say I'm just looking. Even if I do need help, I'd rather just look on my own.
When we entered Cache, I walked around a bit taking in the sequins and zebra print (Did I mention there was a teenager trying on prom dresses?). At some point the Cache employee must have asked my beau if we needed help because whatever he said to her caused her to start fluttering around the store, pulling things off the rack for me.
In the end, none of the options were really my style (as I'd suspected), but at least we gave it a try.
As we were leaving the mall, my beau said "Now see, that wasn't so bad. The lady was very helpful once I told her it was imperative that we find what we were looking for."
I laughed a little, thinking about how ridiculous our "dire" situation must have seemed to the poor woman who just wanted to go home for the day.
"And what did you tell her we were looking for?" I asked.
"An elegant fourteen."
Maybe it's only funny to me because I know him, but bless his heart. I pictured him making it very clear to the woman that we simply MUST find an ELEGANT fourteen. But of course!
I hesitated to include this story in the blog because who really wants to make their dress size public knowledge? But it just warmed my heart so much to have someone who would go to any lengths to try and make me feel better, when the situation was only dramatic because I overreacted in the first place.
Do you ever struggle with wanting to make a certain impression and feel like your fashion options are holding you back?
