The Red Dress

I've been obsessing a little bit over the last week on the idea for a new holiday dress. I wanted something nice for when I go home to Connecticut, and I wanted something special for Richard and I's first Christmas together. In my mind I saw something black, long sleeved, and either V or turtle neck. I scoured the internet, my usual haunts of Banana, Ann Taylor, even NY & Co. I failed to find anything remotely close to what I wanted, what I thought was a simple enough request.

On Saturday, I braved Macy's of Herald Sq. thinking I would do some Christmas shopping since it's only a week away; the mecca of suburban shoppers in the city, where people gather to look at the bright displays in the windows, and the inside is so congested with people, they literally herd you with ropes and extra staffers around the mezzanine floor and up and down the escalators. At several points, people were stuck at the bottom of the escalator with no place to go and pushing and shoving. Not the idyllic shopping environment, but this is NYC at the peak holiday season. I walked back and forth through I.N.C. and Style & Co. I even waded through the tweens on the juniors floor. I tried on a few black dresses that fit the description...not even close. Putrid in fact. They were some of the most unflattering things I've ever tried on. I left Macy's halls with two pairs of shoes from Nine West, and a new pair of leather gloves. Hmm...only gifts for me....oh well...keep going.

So obsessed was I that I trodded through Ann Taylor Loft, and GAP once more, thinking, hoping, just maybe they'd have some new stock. Nothing to be found. Then I arrived at the holy land, Banana Republic. I had been to a different one earlier in the week and found nothing, nothing that looked good anyway.

This one was larger though, with better selection. I grabbed five or six dresses off the rack and made my way to the fitting room. Disaster again. Ugly, frumpy, tight in the wrong places, and overall ICK. Then I saw it. A red, silk cocktail dress in a Grecian-style one-sided strap. I NEVER would have picked this for me; but it was in my size so I tried it on. In a word....exquisite. I blushed at the price, and teetered back and forth over whether I would buy something so expensive that may not fit in a couple of months. I decided in the end I could always get it tailored.

The choice was well worth it when I saw the look on Richard's face when I tried it on in front of him.

I LOVE this dress, and it is a size 14!!!!