Some dress moments are months in the making, like my Noni B $20 bargain. Other dress moments happen a little bit quicker and sometimes there is a bit of a story behind them. This is one such time.
I love the Boo Radley brand. They tend to take different fabrics and mix them together to create something awesome. I am lucky because a local boutique stocks this brand so I can go in and look at the items whenever I want. Having said that, they also sell via TVSN and sometimes I am lucky enough to find a piece I love in the clearance section.
I had been eyeing this dress off for a while in clearance because it is essentially the essence of me wrapped up into a dress. The other half claims I say that about all my dresses – and that is true! Why would I buy a dress if it was not the essence of me?
I saw it in the local boutique in my size back in early June and it was even more beautiful than I suspected. The different materials are so gorgeous together and the black part was silky and gorgeous. I was tempted to buy it for myself for my birthday. No, be good, Snoskred. Do.Not.Buy.
I survived No Buy July partly by not going anywhere near this boutique, which was having a huge sale. On the 2nd of August I needed a haircut and I had *absolutely* no intention of going to that boutique – but my hairdresser was busy and I was told to return in 30 minutes. I thought I would stroll over and of course this dress would be long gone by now.
When I arrived at the shop, there was a busload of Chinese tourists attacking the store. I mean grabbing things off the shelves, trying them on, and then approaching the sales lady to try and haggle with her. The poor sales lady was actually on the phone trying to organise insurance for her new store – seems they are moving to a slightly smaller and more energy efficient place.
I quickly scanned every single rack, dodging the tourists like a bizarre interpretative shopping dance, but I did not find my dress in my size or in any size, for that matter. Ok, looks like it was not meant to be. I started looking at a couple of other Boo Radley things when a lady appeared out of the changing room, holding my dress! Then she put it back on the rack. Could it be my size? No, there is no way it could be.. but it was. She talked with the sales lady about it but decided not to buy it.
I patiently waited for that lady to leave the store before grabbing the dress and heading to try it on. It was perfect and I loved it, so I bought it – and it was cheaper than it would have been buying it from TVSN, too, because the store was having a moving sale. And this past Saturday I took it for an outing and was instantly the most fashionable person in every location we attended. I do not think the pictures do it any justice at all. It is so silky and the skirt moves in such a great way.
Click here for a slightly larger version of this so you can see the details.
It almost feels like it belongs in medieval times or at a renaissance fair hanging out with knights in suits of armour.. The gold animal print fabric is velvety and smooth and I found it impossible to stop touching it.
Lucky for me there is a perfectly placed animal print panel in the skirt for car travel.
I cannot tell you how much I love this dress. No combination of our human words or numbers will suffice. Clearly it was meant to be.
I’m sending this over to LoveLeahXL for her Outfit August challenge.
It sounds like you were meant to have that dress!
Kathy G – Sometimes it seems the planets align and it just happens the way the universe intended. :)
Now there is a dress I REALLY don’t like. It’s just too….something, I don’t know. I just disliked it immediately.
I’m glad you found one in your size though, lucky you hadn’t left the store when that woman came out of the changing rooms.
I think I know what it is you are not loving about it, River. It might be the quirky almost kind of hippie element that it has. What I am not loving about it is that it is incredibly difficult to photograph. This dress is so different in person. :)
What a fabulous find!
SSG xxx
SSG – it is very quirky which is right up my street. :)
Thanks for playing along! I love the animal print section of the dress – it looks so soft! I also love that the front part under your bust looks like cat ears.
I love that it has what looks like cat ears on it too, Leah! ;) The animal print is so smooshy soft, it is great. ;)