The rest of the story...what I wore...

Someone asked about the rest of the story from yesterday's blog post...


"A formal invite for a formal military ball should come out about 4-6 weeks before the Ball, but the date of the Ball or Formal is usually known much earlier in advance. If I had one piece of advice to offer here, it would be: start preparing as far in advance as possible. I learned this lesson the hard way last year when I sauntered into a local bridal store - 2 weeks before the Ball - and expected to pick out the perfect formal gown. When I spoke to the owner of the store, I told her what I was looking for...she asked my time line...I told her...and then she laughed. It was then that my hopes were crushed...who on earth knew that it took as long as 8 weeks to order a bridesmaid or party dress?! Well, now I do...and so do you. So start planning early."

What was end result from my seemingly ill-fated trip to a Memphis retailer looking for the perfect ball gown?  

Gray gown for my first Army Ball.

After I  realized that ordering a dress was simply not a possibility (with a scant 2 week window of time), I desperately perused the "as-is" merchandise available in the store. This was not an awesome feeling. It's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. You're looking for something somewhat flattering...in your size....that isn't destroyed from being tried on multiple times...and isn't covered in makeup or deodorant stains. You would think that these gowns would be discounted - and some are - but most aren't.

I found my gray gown on the rack, in a size larger than what I'd normally wear (it laces up in the back, so sizing was much less of an issue) and the top part was a little bit "weird." But, as one of my friends in Dallas once told me, "No one notices on a galloping horse." so I bought the dress and proceeded to have it hemmed....TWICE*....this dress was ready literally 6 hours before I had to get on the plane to fly to Kansas.

Was I stressed?

You bet.

Did I learn an important lesson?

You bet.

* The dress had to be re-hemmed because the seamstress took off too little on the length. On the day I was to pick the dress up, I tried it on with the heels I would wear to the ball and I kept stepping on the stress since it was still too long. She had to rush to get more length removed...

:)