I look 5 pounds lighter — even in jeans

In 3 hours, I bought one cocktail dress, one pair of matching shoes, a wrap, and two pairs of jeans – that fit.  My fashion consultant, (let’s just call her Georgie), saved me money, time and taught me a few lessons. And I’m ready for the black-tie event this Saturday.

She gave quick comments about each of the 18 dresses I tried on, and she quickly had me down to two finalists, and ultimately led me to the one that will stand the test of time: Here’s the dress, but my version is black.from BCBG. What you can’t see in this picture is that there is a little champagne color peeking through the sheerness of the dress. We’re playing that up with the shoes – I would have missed that entirely, and just went for black.

Here’s how she saved me some money: The dress needs a wrap. The clerks at BCBG brought out very luxurious, gorgeous black wool wrap. I melted in it; it’s warm, soft, and you can wear it with jeans, a skirt, pants, or an evening dress. (By the way, if you’re nursing a baby – get this and snuggle you and the baby 24×7.)

But what I couldn’t see, and my fashion consultant could, was that it crushed the dress in the back, and the dress looked frumpy. So, this $188 investment was not for me. Georgie found a champagne-colored one at Macy’s for $15. And she found it fast – we didn’t spend 45 minutes going from store to store looking for one that did the job.

Jeans:  There’s a reason to go to those jam-packed, overstuffed jeans stores.  That 29th pair of jeans you try on will not make you look fat, even if the first pair does.  When you’re looking for that one perfect pair, you need to try on lots, and lots of jeans. After trying on 30 pairs of jeans, I scored two that make me look taller and 5 pounds lighter. In the two stores we visited, Lucky and Buckle, Georgie used the sales clerks to her advantage. She gave them information about my measurements, and where my curves are. They fetched, (there were very knowledgeable about their product) and she stayed with me, analyzing every one of the 30 pairs I tried on. Each pair carried its own problems: waistband gaps in the back, too long in the inseam, too short, not wide enough in the hips. Sometimes, I didn’t even open the door; nobody’s gonna see these jeans on me! We finally settled on these two from Buckle, 100% cotton, (no lycra, real jeans)Buckle also carries free alternations, and one pair is currently getting the tricky hem. Don’t forget to ask for this if you love a pair of jeans, and they’re too long. It’s usually free.

Now, I found this great website, Between my Peers, and Rachel runs articles, with pictures, like “Should I Keep It,” and you can even send her pictures of your stuff to get her opinion. She also has pages of information, such as “The Basics,” “What to Wear to Church,” and “Frugal.” Great place to go for answers. She also lets you know when and where the sales are.

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