My Wedding Dress

The dress that every girl dreams of for that momentous occasion once in her life. The dress she dresses her Barbie’s in and plays 'wedding' with her Ken doll.  That dress has now been donated to an organization that will give that dress to women who are well deserving.  That dress will now make some other bride-to-be happy.

I remember the day at David’s Bridal, sifting through the racks, knowing in my head exactly what I wanted which they didn’t have so I settled.  I settled for a dress that spoke to me after I put it on and looked in the mirror.  If I remember correctly it was the third one I put on.  It was nice, my Mom loved it.  It had white beading on the front, and a detail along the bottom, very princess like, sans the crinoline please.   And so it went, the fittings because obviously the dress wasn’t fitting me right in any curve (I think that’s how they get you to spend money on their services).  The shoe shopping, the hair sessions, and of course the pre-makeup session.  All for about 6 hours of my life that I briefly remember.  Yet I’d do it all again, differently, and definitely a different style dress.

A few months after the wedding, like every other bride, I had the dress preserved (professionally cleaned and placed in a box, which is pretty pricey), it has remained in that box for 10 years.  Now what? Well honestly it was taking up space in my basement, I had no further use for it and I sure wasn’t going to wear it again.  Even if I ever had a girl I wouldn’t let her take a picture in it because well, to be honest it’s not her dress.  Those pictures look ridiculous anyway.  Heck, I spent good money on it to get it professionally cleaned, I am NOT taking it out of the box for a ½ hour photo session.  I even thought of having a ‘recycled wedding dress’ party, but then again, do we really want to daunt the dress for an evening?  Probably not. 

What do I do with this? I thought of donating it to Salvation Army, but after doing some research online I found a non-profit organization that grants weddings and renewals to couples facing terminal illness and serious life-altering situations.  And they accept wedding gowns as donations.  Bingo! I finally decided to mail the entire box, unopened, rather then take it out of the box and donate money for them to have it cleaned – again.  The trip to the post office was a hoot, the man at the counter told me how much this was going to cost (in walks a female customer behind me).  “That’s fine, its my wedding dress and I’m donating it so it’s a write off” I said in reply, hoping the woman behind me heard me for some odd reason I have yet to determine.  Then he said it was going to cost a bit more for weight, “That’s fine, again, it’s a total write-off” I replied with a smile and a chuckle, (deep inside I was laughing).  As I paid the man and he handed me my receipt, I knew inside I was doing a good thing.  To me at this point in my life it was just a dress, to someone else, it was granting a wish.

"Where do you find clothes that fit?"

“Where do you shop?” A friend of mine asked who is working out to get her sexy back.  Apparently the stores she’s used to shopping in, either the smaller sizes are scarce or the clothes don’t fit her like they should.  Yes we workout to look better, to feel better in our clothes, to be healthier, yet retail stores are misleading people by making a ‘true size 6’ be a size 2 just to make people think they are really that size, they are appeasing the public.  It’s unrealistic.

Some of us are truth to this, I no longer shop at NY&Company, I used to wear a 2 or a 0, well I can fit 2 of me fit in a size 2 now and they normally only have 2 size 0s on the rack.  You’ll find me shopping at Express, Ann Taylor Loft or the outlets.  Ann Taylor Outlet is great for all sizes (btw the store is 60% off this week).  The clothes fit and are reasonably priced. Their sales staff will even make suggestions for you.  I rather pay $50 for a pair of work pants which fit right that I do not have to hem!   Trust me it was hit or miss for a while, I’d get frustrated, I dreaded going to the mall, knowing half the clothes I’d like wouldn’t fit and I didn’t want to stoop low enough to shop in the juniors department at my age (even if their clothes are cute, the pants never fit right because they don’t have a booty)!  It’s also helpful when you shop with a friend, who also went through the same thing I did searching for dresses at Macy’s, she then found exactly what wanted (and what fit right) at Express.  My mom, my sister and I all shop the outlets, Mom even shops at Express (sometimes)!

JC Penny is another store, they have cute skirts for spring, but nothing smaller than a 2.  I said my peace to their customer service department, no wonder stores are losing money.  Their customers are losing weight and they aren’t keeping up with stocking small sizes to keep those customers. 

So it’s not just me, or just you, it’s a group of us striving to find the ultimate fit at the right price!  While retailers stock their racks with larger sizes to appease the general public.  I’m not sure whose winning but I’m not spending my money there.