A Wedding Wardrobe Malfunction: Always Bring an Extra Dress!

Me in the dress, before it became a disaster

The dress was perfect. It survived the hour-long drive into St. Louis without falling off the hanger or getting wrinkled. My toenails were freshly painted to match the midnight purple of the dress. Unzipping the dress, before stepping into it, the zipper seemed to snag on (what I now understand as) a faulty tooth, but I persisted with a tug and stepped into the dress.

The soft silk and rich hues made me feel like I was preparing to step onto the red carpet- even though the dress was purchased final sale at a cool 75 dollars. My hair was set, my makeup was even red-carpet ready- and then something terrible happened.

As I pulled the zipper up, it became stuck on the same place as before. "I'll just tug it a bit harder," I thought as I performed the task, anticipating the zipper to properly catch on the teeth... but alas- it did not. Instead of properly catching track, the entire zipper and track became even more untracked. I was stuck. And then the zipper split. And I was still stuck. With less than 45 minutes to go until I had to be at the church.

I began to sweat and fret- undoubtedly a combination that exhausted the confidence, bounce, and height of my hair. No more bouncy curls- just beachy waves. Would I have to sew myself into the dress? I didn't bring and needles or thread- could I find a tailor to fix my dilemma within my dwindling timeline?

Panicked- I called Banana Republic, and described the situation I found myself in. The agreed to pull their most formal dresses in sizes 4 and 6 off of their sales floor for me to try on between the ceremony and the reception. Even though the dress was final sale, the agreed to take back the dress.

Miraculously,  I was able to yoga-move my way out of the dress (and I found out that my shoulder is perhaps double-jointed?) and change into a dress I brought for a graduation on Sunday. A much shorter dress, that I had worn many times- but a dress without a gaping hole on its side. Much better.

With friends from grad school in the replacement dress from White House | Black Market

The ceremony was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The bride was one of my best friends from graduate school, the groom was a close friend from Bible study (I was the first to introduce them, during a visit to the church- our friend Jenny was the first to ignite the spark between the bride and groom), and the pastor was my pastor. It was a ceremony full of meaning- for everyone there! My stress I felt during dress malfunction seemed quite silly when I sat down in my seat and remembered the reason I was in the church that day.

Between the ceremony's end and the reception's beginning, I stopped at the mall (which was in between the ceremony and reception sites) to find a replacement dress. The search was unfruitful- there was nothing I could find that I liked as much as the original, or even as much as my replacement dress. But I'm glad that I brought an extra dress with me. So glad. Moral of the story: bring an extra so you won't have to sweat the small stuff (literally and figuratively).

So, I continued on my trek to the reception in my improvised outfit and enjoyed a wonderful night with my friends. We hit the dance floor, ate cake, and had a blast.

And, most importantly- the bride and the groom had a great time celebrating the start of their journey together as husband and wife.

With the beautiful bride and more friends from grad school. Thankfully, the bride's dress was flawless!

Catching Up

Hello Readers!

I can't believe that the semester is coming to a close and my adventures as a Master's student is nearly over! A year ago, I would have said that school was moving at a snail's pace, but now I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown by.  How does that happen? When you're in the middle of something, time seems to move at a slower pace than at the end when it's difficult to account for all of the time that's gone by.

Last Thursday, my friend Megan and I attended Anthropologie's Spring Showcase at the store in the Galleria. I wasn't sure what to expect, but from what I heard from fellow bloggers, I knew that the event would be a lot of fun.  And guess what. . . it was!

Upon arrival, Megan, I, and the rest of the crowd were greeted by staff with smiles and ushered into the store where we filled out a tag (much like a luggage tag- very cute!) with our names.  Then, the flow of traffic led us to a table with an assortment of cheeses, crackers, cashews, olives, grapes, cookies, vanilla meringues, and raspberries.  Then we walked around and browsed the wears and wares of the store.  After Megan and I finished our food, we mosied over to the champagne table and enjoyed a little bit of bubbly. And, of course, we tried on clothes!  Here are some pics from the night:

Inspired by The Ocean (Yesterday's Outfit)

Hello Readers!

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday! Here in St. Louis, it's been rainy almost all day, and I think as a result of this weather I've been moving at a snail's pace all day. Oh well! According to the weatherman St. Louis is supposed to have a sunny day tomorrow! Hooray!

Anyways. . .

Yesterday I decided to pick an outfit that reflected my source of inspiration from Sunday: The Ocean. Since most of my wardrobe consists of ocean-y tones (blues, greens, and greys), this wasn't a major challenge, but I made intentional selections that reflected the aspects of the ocean that I find so inspirational (Color Palette, Movement, and Fun).

Here is what I came up with:

Color Palette: As you can see, the color palette of this outfit mimics many of the colors found in the ocean. My charcoal trousers (also featured here) and belt, and light grey cardigan are the same colors as many of the rocks and pebbles found at many of the beaches I used to frequent when I lived in Vancouver (Eagle Harbor Beach!). My two tank tops are the colors of the waves, and my gold shoes are like the color of the sun and those tiny glimmers of gold that touch the tops of waves on a sunny day.

Movement: I see this feature most prominently in the ruffles of my cardigan and the otherwise streamlined profile of the outfit. I also wore a locket with a long chain, so when I walked while wearing it it swayed to and fro.

Fun: The fun starts with the colors of this outfit. I love wearing these colors, and the confidence that comes from wearing these colors, in a way, give me an extra capacity for fun- which is essential for Mondays! The other part of the "fun" element of this outfit come from the ruffles on my shirt. They look a bit silly at times, but don't they just make you want to smile?

Do you have any ocean-inspired outfits? If you do, feel free to send a picture to me- I would love to feature your outfit on my blog!

Until next time. . . here are my Retail Details:

Light Grey Cardigan: Banana Republic

Green Laser-Cut Tank: American Eagle Outfitters

Mint-Green/Ocean-Mist Green Tank: Anthropologie (for 10 dollars last year!)

Dark Charcoal Wool Trousers: J.Crew

Gold Ballet Flats: American Eagle Outfitters

Silvertone Locket: American Eagle Outfitters

Charcoal Patent Belt: Ann Taylor (I LOVE this belt!)

How Inspiring: The Ocean

(Pipeline, North Shore O'ahu- you may, or may not recognize this beach from Blue Crush)

Readers,

Those of you who know me well know that I love being near the ocean. In the water, on a boat, or standing on shore; there's a certain ease and peace I experience when I'm near a large body of salt water. The ocean, in all of its beauty, is a constant source of inspiration in the way I choose to narrate my life through clothing. How?

1) Color Palette

(Ocean Park in San Francisco, CA)

All at once subtle and stunning

(somewhere in Ireland- I've forgotten where exactly)

2) Movement

(Northern Ireland, somewhere on the way to Bushmills)

The ocean is ever-moving and always fresh, qualities reflected in the large stocks of flowing and ruffled skirts and blouses in my closet.

(Ocean Park, San Francisco, CA)

3)Its capacity for fun (when you know the rules)

(Ocean Park)

The ocean, like fashion, is an incredible resource of endless possibilities for fun and leisure. But, in order to participate in this fun safely, we must enter the water with a sense of adventure and the common sense to stay away from the dangers that lurk in the water (ie; MC Hammer pants, leggings with UGGs, or generally wearing leggings as pants).

(Ibiza, Spain)