Tuesday, August 3

Say What To The Dress? BlogHer NYC Edition

I told myself I wasn't going to write a BlogHer '10 post because there are already so many out there and what more could I have to add? But then I went shopping to grab just 'one more thing' for NYC (like they don't have stores or something in that city) and while browsing the racks I found it. I found the dress. The dress I was going to wear to The People's Party (are you going? I hope so, I'll be there and happy to see you) and this was the dress that made me write a BlogHer '10 post.


It was black (a requirement of mine) with a big ballerina pink satin bow (Hello! I'm a girl) and had a really girly lacey layered bustier (okay, I'm making this dress sound hideous but it really wasn't, it was perfect, albeit a bit short but hey, I'm not scared of a little hemline.) It looked like a tutu (another requirement because of my love for Tanner) and it was like a dress from 1985 that I wouldn't have had the kuhoonas to wear back then as my insecure teenage-self but somehow my 40-something insecure self would say HELL YES because it was 1985 done to 2010 perfection.

I tried it on and *deep breath* it fit and while it was kind of shorter than my norm, it was still complete Love with a capital L. It also was affordable which just made the Love deeper than ever possible. Cartwheels were almost done in the aisle of the change rooms but weren't because my 40-something body knows it's limits and gymnastics are not a good idea the week of BlogHer.

So I took it up to the register, holding it up by the hanger to admire it like a lovelorn teen who just unearthed the perfect prom dress while waiting in the long line-up. It swayed like a charm, it was soft, and girly, and just perfect. If I was susceptible to public squeeing this would have been the time. It was also the last one left on the rack [insert sense of impending doom here] and it just seemed so lucky that this dress just appeared like magic.

Should have known it was too good to be true.

dun-dun-dun-duuuuuuh

Once it was finally my turn at the cash, the dress was handed over to the customer service lady who was super sweet and made the appropriate 'oh what a cute dress!' face and noises. My smile was huge, my pocketbook was ready, and the dress was to be mine.

She went to remove the hanger and that's when all the perfection started to unravel. Literally.

The hanger hooked the lacey bustier and it started to unravel at an alarming rate... and rip... all on one side. The look of horror on both our faces was disturbing to say the least. She immediately stopped and we both assessed the damage, treating the fabric like it was a ticking bomb ready to go off.

It was worse than first thought. Rows of the lace had caught on the hanger and it was a lopsided mess. For what seemed like an eternity (but probably only 10 mins) we debated how bad it looked and how it might be fixed. I wanted this dress so bad. If it had unraveled evenly, or even just in the centre, it might have been passable but the only suggestion that seemed possible in the time allotted was to try to unravel the other side the same way to make it looked balanced and that was an option neither the store nor I wanted to risk.

They offered me a discount which was nice but not enough to save the dress even if I had the time to take it to a miracle-worker / tailor so I sadly left with the other things I had found, leaving that dress to languish on the 'damaged' rack.

I know in the whole scheme of things this is insignificant -- hello! first world problems or what? -- but it still sucked large.

BUT the important thing is, I'll be at BlogHer wearing something tutu-like most of the time and I hope you are there to join me. And if not, I hope you have a great week doing whatever you will be doing. Trust me, you will be missed. Just like that dress. *sigh*

7 comments:

Stimey said...

I know how sad you've made me feel about the dress. I can only imagine how you feel. I'm sure, per usual, you will be gorgeous! Hope to see you this year!

Major Bedhead said...

Oh, that just sucks.

I will be wearing an old rag because I have neither the money nor the patience to shop for anything new.

LL said...

Ugh. I HATE that feeling of really wanting something and seeing a fault. The whole back and forth justification thing does my head in. I'm ashamed to admit I have actually gone ahead and bought stuff, thinking I'd fix it. Never do. I end up giving it to a charity shop.

Hopefully you'll find an even more perfect dress with the perfect hemline :)

Kyla said...

Oh noooo!

You and the People's Party are in the top 5 things I'll miss about not being at BlogHer. Sob.

Lynn @ Walking With Scissors said...

Aw. You would have looked adorable in that dress!! Oh well, I'm looking forward to seeing you whether you're wearing that dress or a potato sack. :)

Heather said...

Wow, major suckage. Sounds like the kind of luck I have except I wouldn't have found the dress to begin with. Sigh.

Lisa Noel said...

hope you had an amazing time at the party (and the rest of blogher) despite the loss of the perfect dress :(