Major Shopping Coup! A Story in Thirteen Acts

1. I went to Lakeside Mall, Esplanade Mall, and Magazine Street this week in what was beginning to seem like a futile search for a holiday dress. My college friend Ryan is getting married New Year's Eve, and I suddenly came to the realization that all women dread... I hated all my clothes and had... seriously... nothing... to wear.

2. My criteria: something shiny, under $100 but willing to stretch it as high as $120 (I have paid more for dresses I really, really liked, but this is a tricky financial month for me with tuition due early in January), a size 0-4, something red!, or gold!, preferably something to match my amazingly gorgeous gold velvet BCBG shoes which we all know I love. Honestly. It is the holiday season. These criteria should not be hard to fulfill. Right?

3. Wrong. There was nothing that called to me, "Wear me!" Even if it had been in my size, which most things weren't. I am just going to point out that it is actually really, really hard to shop when you are skinny. Especially if you are tall and skinny. It's like that whole thing with boob size-- women who want bigger ones don't realize that the women WITH bigger ones hate them and want smaller ones. I am so over being told, "Did you check in Juniors? They have your size there."

4. So today I went to Canal Place, which was my Last and Only Hope of finding a dress in New Orleans.

5. I went in BCBG and would not even allow myself to try on. It was an act of rigid willpower, since there were several cute, cute dresses. But I was committed to staying strictly on budget, since I have zero dollars to my name right now. No $300 dresses for Sarah.

6. I went to White House Black Market, even though I didn't want another black dress. (True to the name, they only sell dresses that are black... or white. Or sometimes beige or silver.) Unless it had some sort of trim or detailing that matched my gold shoes. And I sort of wanted red, too. I wanted color. Christmas-y color. So I sort of walked through the store quickly, then continued on my way.

7. In Ann Taylor I tried on a black strapless dress, with a rose pattern and a poofy skirt. It was on sale for $78. I had tried on the same dress at the other mall. It looked good, but... I told them to hold the size 0 while I did ONE last check to make sure there was absolutely nothing else.

8. Back at White House Black Market, scanning the sale rack with greater attention. Nothing really called to me, again, but then, I figured it couldn't hurt to see what a couple of them looked like on. I picked two dresses and went in the dressing room. The girl brought me black heels to test out the dress with. I zipped up the first dress, which was shiny and black, with off-white ribbon designs on the bodice, put on the shoes, and stepped out.
9. Both girls in the store were like, "Wow." I kind of agreed. I asked, "Why is this dress on the sale rack? It's gorgeous." They said you would be surprised... it didn't fit a lot of people quite right, and bunched up on the sides. It looked perfect on me, though. Must be my tiny Scarlett O'Hara-esque waist. The dress had nice retro lines to it. I am sucker for that look. It was growing on me by leaps.

10. The girl said, "Can I ask you why you wouldn't get it?"
I said I wasn't actually looking for black, because I had these other shoes.
"A lot of people have that problem," she said.
I said, "But I have equally nice and expensive black shoes that I am not opposed to wearing, either. And this dress is kind of perfect. I am starting to feel like it's meant to be."
She said, "I think that's the best I've seen that dress fit."
I said, "I'm not even trying the other one on. I know better than to question the shopping karma."

11. The dress was $168, which had been marked down to $130. It was on the additional 40% off rack. It rang up as $77. Seventy-seven dollars! Including tax! Whee! So by far the best dress I tried on ended up being the cheapest. I win... at life.

12. When I got home, I put on my dress and gloated for about half an hour. I even took pictures of myself in the mirror. I apologize for the crappy quality of the photos (I had to turn the flash off). I hope you get the general effect, though you can't see the lovely shininess, which is a pity. Sometimes you just need to pose and gloat.

13. Now I am watching White Christmas, thoroughly satisfied with myself. And that is one holiday shopping coup in the books!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants