Where's the Barn?

My Simply Be dress.

Diana asked me to accompany her to Dress Barn to help pick out a dress for her upcoming high school reunion. You know how I like Dress Barn, so I was happy to go shopping with her after tea on Friday,

We drove to a nearby Dress Barn to discover that Dress Barn was gone and a new store had taken its place! I was disappointed, but not too surprised because another local Dress Barn had shuttered its doors a few months ago.

We are persistent and drove to another nearby Dress Barn, but when we arrived, it was also gone and a new store had taken its place!

We were frustrated and since there were no more nearby Dress Barns to try, we parted ways. But instead of going home, I decided to visit the store that replaced Dress Barn.

It was a woman's clothing store called "Roz & Ali" and I noticed that it was laid out just like Dress Barn. Perusing the racks, I noticed that about one fifth of the clothing labels were Dress Barn labels and I even found a dress I had seen on the Dress Barn website. What the heck?

I asked one of the sales reps what was going on and she explained that Dress Barn was trying to change its image and had renamed 50 of its stores to Roz & Ali. And not to worry – all the Dress Barn gift cards, perks and coupons were still good.

After losing Fashion Bug a couple of years ago, I was worried Dress Barn might be meeting the same fate, so I was relieved and began seriously shopping.

I found two dresses that I liked, but they did not have either in my size. The largest size for one was a Misses size 12 and the other a Misses size 14. I threw caution to the wind – maybe they would fit since my weight loss was verging on 20 pounds.

In the dressing room, I slipped into the size 12 first and I did not bother zipping it up; it was so tight in the hips that knew it would be a futile effort.

I tried on the size 14 next. It fit like a glove and I had no trouble zipping it closed. And it looked absolutely gorgeous. It is new and not on the Dress Barn website yet, so I cannot show it to you, but the receipt (of course I bought it) calls it a "foil scuba midi: wine."

It is a figure-hugging sleeveless midi that just brushes my knees with a sexy short slit over the right leg. The dress has a large pink and silver floral pattern over a wine background and features a metallic sheen (the "foil"). It is a special occasion dress and I look forward to the next special occasion so I can wear it!

I was very happy with my purchase. And even better – I am now a Misses size 14!

Wearing Trina Turk (Source: Trina Turk)

Seth Atwell, male womenswear model