Many Happy Returns

Reviewing my day out shopping en femme on Thursday, I mentioned I was having buyer's remorse over the first dress I purchased that day: a long-sleeved A-line black and white that I purchased at Kohl's.

Truth be told, I bought that dress because I was a little desperate. After trying on a bunch of dresses at Kohl's, it was the best of the batch of the dresses that fit properly. I bought the dress just in case I was unable to find anything else that day.

As it turned out, I bought seven other dresses that day and they were all better than the one I bought at Kohl's, so I returned the dress for a refund today.

I also revisited my other purchases.

I loved the two dresses I bought at JCPenney, i.e., the little black empire dress and the black and white print sheath, which I wore out Thursday evening, as seen in the accompanying photo.

The JCPenney dresses were keepers, but I took a long hard look at my Dress Barn purchases.

I began to hate the way I looked in one dress (the belted white sateen shirt dress) and the thrill was gone with another dress (the black and white speckled print A-line), so I returned both for a refund today.

So I now have five new dresses instead of eight and $112 in my purse to spend on new shoes next time I am out shopping en femme.

Yesterday, All My Dresses Seemed So Far Away

I had a big day out en femme yesterday!

My plans were to do some shopping, dine and attend the monthly cocktail party at Real Art Ways.

Since the venue for my plans were all in the Hartford area, I decided to stay in an inexpensive motel in the area rather than drive back and forth to my home. The money I saved on gas almost paid for the room.

It was windy and unseasonably cool yesterday. I wore my Victoria's Secret lightweight sweater dress, black tights, black heels, and black sweater coat.

I was out the door about 10 AM.

My shopping goal was to buy new dresses for my trip to Dayton and other womanly outings during the upcoming months. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I bought eight new dresses!

Seven Dresses of April (click on the image to enlarge it)

My first stop was Kohl's. I was interested in some of the cute dresses they have been showing in their recent ads. I found some of the advertised dresses, but none in my size. However, I did find some in my size that had potential.

After three trips to the changing room, I bought a long-sleeved A-line dress with a black and white print (first dress on the left in the photo). I love black and white prints, but I am having buyer's remorse over this dress.

I left Kohl's and drove to the mall, where I intended to peruse the dress racks at JCPenney. I parked my car at the mall and walked into JCPenney. As I headed to the dress racks, a 30-something male store employee checked me out and as I walked away from him, he began singing "I'm in love."

That was nice!

I found a half dozen dresses of interest and hauled them all to the changing room. They were all the same size, but only two fit: a Vee-neck empire "little black dress" (second dress in the photo) and a sleeveless A-line black and white print. I bought both, exited the mall, and drove across the street to Dress Barn.

When shopping at Kohl's or JCPenney, you are on your own, but at Dress Barn, the staff is more attentive (my guess is that they work on commission). They help you find what you need, set up your own personal changing room, fetch another size if the item you are trying on is the wrong size, etc., etc.

I found four dresses of interest, carried them to my personal changing room and was very disappointed --- they were all too small.

This has been my experience at Dress Barn lately. Whereas, their size Misses 16 usually fit me in the past, now their Misses 16 no longer fit. I have not gained any weight, so the store must have adjusted their sizing.

As I headed to the Woman Size side of the store, I asked the saleswoman about it and she acknowledged that my suspicions were correct.

She then helped me find some dresses on the Woman Size side, I found a few myself, and hauled eight dresses to my changing room. They all fit and I liked five enough to purchase (the five dresses on the right in the photo).

• Belted white sateen shirt dress (third dress in the photo)

• Navy menswear ruffle color dress (fourth dress)

• Black jacquard sheath dress (fifth dress)

• Black and white speckled print A-line dress (sixth dress)

• Two tone (navy blue and white) graphic print shift with a boat neck and spliced short sleeves (seventh dress )

After over four hours of shopping, I was tired, so I returned to the motel to rest awhile before going out for dinner. I brought my purchases to my room to try them on again and decide what to wear for dinner and cocktail partying.

In my room, I realized I was very thirsty, so I left my room to go find the vending machines. When I got to the vending room, I discovered that I needed my electronic room key to access the vending room and then it hit me that I had left the key in my room.

I asked a cleaning woman if she could let me into my room, but she said I had to go to the front desk to get a new key.

Nuts! I was in boy mode when I checked in and now I was in girl mode, so the situation was not giving me the warm fuzzies. I hoped that someone new was working the front desk, but lo and behold, the same woman who had checked me in was working the desk.

I explained my situation to her and I could tell that she did not recognize me. She asked for my room number and last name and  looked quizzical when I responded. I told her I looked different now and she literally lit up when she finally recognized me. As she handed me my new key, she said, "You look very pretty!"

I thanked her profusely, bought an iced tea in the vending area, and returned to my room to model my dresses and pick one to wear for the evening.