fancy dress

i'm going to a "black tie" wedding in a couple of weeks, and i need to get a really fancy dress. floor-length, etc. i've never owned or worn such a dress before. i'm going to be a bridesmaid in another wedding next spring and i was sort of hoping those dresses would come in before this wedding, so i could just use the same dress for both purposes, but no such luck.

so i had to go shopping, which i hate. i find it dreadfully boring and challenging, because i pretty much hate everything.

on my first shopping trip, at the new bloomingdale's in SF last weekend, i found one dress that i thought i might like - but they didn't have it in my size or the color i wanted. i tried one on that was two sizes too big in the wrong color, but even so i could tell right away that it was probably the one. i just had to find it at another store in the right size and color.

this is the dress i wanted:


when i got back to NY, my nightmare quest began. i went to the blommingdale's here. it turned out that, contrary to what i'd been told, they didn't have it in the right size & color either. i was at least able to try on the dress in the right size, but the wrong color. (a random fellow-shopper in the dressing room told me it was perfect and i had to get it - clearly a sign. but i hated the color.) when i begged them to check, they looked on their computers, and informed me that, in fact, no bloomingdales in the country had it in stock.

so i went online and looked up the manufacturer's website (badgley mischka - super-annoying flash website). i called the manufacturer. i looked on the website of every retailer that carries their dresses. when that didn't pan out (not on the website, didn't have the right size, etc.), i called every retailer. i probably spent a total of two mid-work-day hours on the phone, and i struck out with every one.

then finally, finally, i called the very last possibility on my list. nieman marcus in white plains, NY had suggested that a nieman marcus store in dallas might have one left. after striking out at the first dallas store number they gave me, i tried the second one late yesterday afternoon. the kind dallas saleslady, jenny, looked around and couldn't find it, but took down my number and promised to call me back.

today i wait all day, getting more and more depressed. i start to resign myself to going back out to the stores, searching and searching through millions of dresses that i hate. i even convince a coworker (and nascent friend) to join me after work today as i return to the dress-shopping trenches. ten minutes before we had planned to leave, i decide to give jenny one last call.

"i've been trying to reach you!" she says. she has? "i found the dress. i think it's the last one in the country." yes, i know, i say, and i shriek and dance around a bit. after a few details are worked out, my precious dress is finally on its way to me, via two-day express mail.

i am really, really excited. i seriously hate shopping.