Susiej

In 3 hours, I bought one cocktail dress, one pair of matching shoes, a wrap, and two pairs of jeans – that fit. For me, that’s pretty fast. 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 dress I tried on, and there were 2 finalists. She directed 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. The dress demands virtually no undergarments, so it will require Boob Tapeto hold everything in place. (My husband is curious about how this works.)

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.

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. We 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.

I do not have the talent Georgie has to buy clothes. In fact, I think I know much less than I thought!! But I’m learning. Georgie doesn’t want to be my shopping partner forever. She’s trying to educate me about my body, so that I can do this for myself. But, for me, right now, it’s kind of overwhelming. She knows a lot. And I think it’s important for me to learn how to make good investments in the small amount of time I have.

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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