The Perfect Dress

My birthday is coming up. DH, in a rare moment (you have no idea), somehow managed to secure reservations for us at one of the nicest restaurants in town--I've been a closet groupie of its famous chef for years. Certainly a highlight of the year for me.

But what to wear?

This is a tie-and-jacket-required restaurant. Rumor has it (at least, according to the Washington Post's food critic), it's the only one in town. So fancy is required.

I'm a stay-at-home mom. The fanciest I generally get is khakis and a clean sweater, or maybe a denim skirt and blouse. Occasionally. And the clothes I wore in my pre-kid life just don't fit anymore despite losing all the baby weight. Bodies change.

I have a dress I wore to DH's parents' fiftieth anniversary party two summers ago. It's nice. And it still fits (proving, once again, that there is a god). But it doesn't ring any bells for me. The colors aren't really my style, I don't have shoes that go with it very well, and it just is kind of blah. Fine for a party with relatives; not so much fine for a dinner I'll likely remember forever (I'm a foodie, what can I say?).

Yesterday, I dragged the kids all over the mall. Macy's. Nordstrom (yeah...like that's realistic), Ann Taylor, Sears. If they sell dresses, I was there. Saw lots of pretty ones. But they were either sewn for women without hips or cut down to *there*. Which is fine on most people. Not my style, you know?

I bought a very nice skirt and top at Ann Taylor with a bit of disappointment. They fit. They're nice. They were on sale. They're just not what I wanted. But whatever.

We didn't have much planned today. I turned in an article this morning and had planned to sit outside and watch the kids run through the sprinkler, but it started pouring down rain. This is a good thing--I don't think we've had a soaking rain since the beginning of June. And I really tried to get the kids to accept it as a natural sprinkler, but no dice.

So in a fit of last-ditch desparation, I drove 25 minutes to J.C. Penney. I've done a bit of online shopping there this summer and they seem to get me. Classic clothes that fit me well at decent prices.

You know what?

I found it.

The perfect little black dress. Thirty percent off! I mean perfect. It hugs my curves where they should be hugged and drapes gently where they're not so much flattering. It's classic--I can easily see a young Kate or Audrey Hepburn in it. Not matronly. Shows a bit of cleavage and a little bit of collarbone, but not too much. It's comfortable and a little bit swishy around the skirt and I am so completely in love with it I could scream. Assuming I don't change too much size-wise, it's a lifetime dress.

I have black heels to go with it. I have a great necklace for it. I'm set.

Those who know me know I'm not a fashion maven. I'm such a jeans-and-T-shirt girl it's almost amusing to think of wearing this out (I wore a skirt one day in college for a job interview, and a friend of mine yelled across the parking lot 'HOLY SHIT--KIM HAS LEGS!!'). But this dress...it was made for me.

The Ann Taylor stuff is going back tomorrow. I have to admit, this one tiny find has really boosted my mood. Nothing like a little retail therapy in the right place!