The Easter Dress Saga

Every. Year.

Every. Single. Year.

Why do I think the year will come when Easter dress shopping will go smoothly for me? It hasn't in the last almost forty. And yet I remain eternally optimistic that the day will come when it will be effortless.

This was not that year.

Let me give you a little background. The biggest problem I have while Easter dress shopping is that I'm just flat out weird when it comes to fashion. I am a pretty classic girl in my tastes. I don't like things that are overly trendy in pointing to a specific year. Not in fabric, print, or style. And if I ever do happen to warm up to a trend, I usually do so right as it sails out the door. I know this about myself, I've accepted it, and I know it will always be a thorn in my clothes-shopping side.

Another big problem? I'm cheap. I hate paying money for clothes! That's why I usually shop Goodwill, consignment shops, and garage sales.

And finally, I'm kind of oddly proportioned. I do just fine when shopping for just tops or just bottoms. But when I have to do the whole dress thing, it's hard to find something that fits me well.

So with all that stacked against me, it's no small wonder the dress shopping never goes well. (It's also a wonder I found my wedding dress in about 45 minutes flat.)

I had not yet purchased a dress for this year, so when Savannah and I went shopping last Monday, I decided to just keep an eye out for possible option. I didn't want to use our day out together as my shopping day, so I had no intentions of trying on any dresses, but I figured if I saw something I liked, I could go back later in the week and try it.

Oh boy.

That whole day scared me to death. We went in store after store after store...and I didn't see anything I liked. I know florals are in, but I am still not over wearing them in the 90's and I just can't bring myself to go back there (yet). I will probably wait until they go out again before I decide I like them. So that eliminated most of the options. There were other patterns, but some were so loud and busy that they literally made me dizzy to look at them. I don't like the cold shoulder trend (on me), so that knocked out more, and I also didn't want anything too short, so that eliminated another hefty portion.

I planned to go around town on Thursday to look for my dress, but alas, that's when I got hit with the flu and didn't leave home all day. That's how it came to be Good Friday (night!) and I still didn't have a dress. My brave husband went with me to watch me plod through the agony of trying to find a dress.

Store #1:

I actually did find one dress in there I liked (and it was even floral!) but it was about $70, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Store #2:

They didn't have much to choose from that was Easter-dressy. Most were casual, sporty dresses.

Store #3:

I'm too old. We were nearly knocked over by teenagers in a hurry, and I got dizzy from the patterns.

Store #4:

Ryan was trying to make it look like he was picking my nose in this picture. We're so twelve! Anyway! SUCCESS!!! Finally! I even tried on multiple dresses! (And I actually liked all of them I tried on, even though I didn't like all of them on me.) It was so refreshing!

Ryan thought I should wear the dress with those gray shoes there. I think that was because he did not want to go shoe shopping. (Which was our next item on the agenda. It took just as many stores and even more headaches.)

This is how we carry our clothing:

In the end, we got this dress on sale - and an additional discount was so kindly offered to us at checkout, so the price was tolerable! (It was actually great, but when you're used to shopping at the Goodwill, it still makes you choke a little.) The shoes ended up costing as much as the dress, but I knew I needed them. (They're very versatile, so I should easily get my money's worth.)

Some of you have already seen this on Facebook, but for those who haven't I tried SO HARD to get Ryan to get this for his Easter outfit, but I was unsuccessful.

Thanks for shopping with the Shaffers! Be glad you didn't have to catch the live show!