The $98 dress

I am not what you'd call "fashionable" by any means. The most expensive thing I buy is Birkenstocks.

Most of the time (like 90% of the time), you'll find me as comfortable as I can be. Hair in a ponytail, no make-up, Jump Little Children T-Shirt circa 1998, and a pair of yoga pants. With flip flops.

And when the rare 10% occurs, you will find me in cheap last-year's-fashion ensembles purchased mainly from consignment stores, Old Navy's sale rack, or Target. I literally do not spend more than $20 on any one item in my wardrobe.

All this has a point. Bare with me...

This past weekend was my 10 year College reunion. Now, I went to a college that prides themselves on turning out fashionable young southern women ready to pursue opportunities in their career fields or acquire advanced degrees. I, however, went to class every day for 4 years in my pajamas. And glasses, since I was too lazy to put in my contacts at 8:30 AM.

Fast forward ten years and those same fashionable young women are now fashionable adults; married, with children, and advanced degrees.

I hemmed and hawed about what to wear to the weekend's festivities. In the end, I settled for comfort over fashion. Maybe that's why so many former alumnae commented that I looked exactly like I did 10 years ago? Without the many body piercings, of course :)

One of my fellow Red Devils inconveniently left her suitcase behind on her trip back down South. I'm pretty sure we can blame the husband but this blog is not designed to cast stones. Anyway, a Connie shopping trip was definitely in order.

Now, if *I* had been the one to forget all my clothes, I would have just headed straight to the local Walmart (no, I'm not kidding!) to pick up a couple shirts and pairs of ugly $8 jeans to get me through the weekend.

Instead, we found ourselves traipsing through downtown Greenville and their posh boutiques. I amused myself by watching my friends try items on with price tags well over $100 or $200. Dude, I don't even have $200 in my bank account right now! But if I did, there's no way I'd spend it on one item of clothing.

Then we entered Augusta 20 which seems to be a store that everyone is familiar with but me.

Oh, wow. I fell in love with practically everything in that store. The dresses, the necklaces, the beaded feather headbands, the handmade earrings, the scarves, etc.

My friends convinced me to try on a purple and white dress that I was spying, claiming it was a perfect style for me.

What the hell.

So I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror of the dressing room.


Wow. 

It fit perfectly. It was exactly the right color, fit, and style that was made for my body type.


I was in love.

I step out of the dressing room to seek my friends' approval. I definitely had it :)

"You're going to buy that, right? Its perfect on you!"

Hell yeah! Of course I'm buying it. I'm a hardworking mom that totally deserves a treat now and then, right?

I look at the price tag.

$98.00

"Oh, that's not bad! That's a really good deal for that dress!"

Really? Cause besides prom and my wedding, I've never spent so much on a dress in my life. And I knew in an instant that there was no way I could justify such a purchase. Not when my daughter has outgrown all her summer clothes from last year. Not when Jayce needs new shoes. Not when both their birthdays are coming up in a few weeks. Not when I'm saving up for a new camera.

With regret, I hung the dress back up and walked out of the store.

My family comes first. I can live with non-designer clothes from Target as long as I know my family has what they need and are happy.

But it sure was fun feeling fancy for a little while :)