6. Trunk Show, Part II
March 9th, 2008 § 2 Comments
Today was the day: my first attempt at finding a wedding dress. I anticipated either leaving in a puddle of tears (it was a trunk show and I feared not fitting into any of the sample sizes) or in a euphoria induced by satin and lace. Dear Reader, you will soon find out which it was.
The trunk show was held at Nouvelle Vogue in San Mateo, a bridal boutique nestled among a variety of upscale restaurants and antique stores. The store itself was laid out in typical boutique style: spare walls with a handful of dresses on each rack, glamorous lounge couches with at least one bored-looking man poking at the women’s magazines (I sighted a Marie Claire with a still-pregnant Maggie G on the cover), and a few confection-like dresses on display. The staff (I was later to learn that the woman who attended to us was a co-owner) was attentive and friendly without being overbearing, and said hello to my mother and me right away. Since we were a smidge early for our appointment, we took some time rummaging around the racks.
My first go-round yielded a single dress – a romantic lace number with droopy cap sleeves and a bow at the natural waist. Disappointed, I made a second round. We’d built ourselves up to this trip and it seemed that everything I looked at just wasn’t me – too sexy, too frumpy, too old, too many beads… I wound up choosing two more just to have an even three and then whoosh! To the dressing room with its lush satin curtains.
After some fussing with the strapless bra they had on hand, the saleswoman helped me on with the first dress. I walked out, stood in front of the giant mirror and, well, I think I heard crickets chirping, or maybe an audience yawning for bedtime. Next.
The second dress was by Jenny Packham, a British designer known for vintage-style gowns. It didn’t look like much on the hanger, but it was a pretty decent approximation of 20′s/30′s glamor when put on. We almost bought it right there and then, but then we remembered that today was the first day I’d ever slipped on a wedding dress, so my mother and I waffled a whole bunch and then asked to see other, similar dresses for comparison. And the dresses came – including dresses that emphasized my gut and clung to my abdominal scar and showed off other body parts that I’m not too proud of, therefore giving more gold stars to Dress Number Two.
As an aside, I’d like to mention that the whole “bride-to-be” thing still hasn’t sunk in despite it all (I’ve been engaged for over a year now), but it started to hit me as I was standing on the stepstool, in a gown, with a veil on my head. Surprisingly, neither my mother nor I cried.
We didn’t leave with the Jenny Packham dress; I’m going to look around some more to see what else is out there. Aces to Nouvelle Vogue for excellent customer service and making me feel like a bride-to-be for the first time (Nouvelle Vogue, 132 E. 3rd Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401 USA).
I am very jealous of this. It feels like something very far away for me. But more than jealousy, I am happy for you.
But yes I saw some of Jenny Packham’s bridal stuff at a bridal fair here in England and she does some pretty nice stuff. Check out also Melissa Sweet, she does some nice vintage-y looking pieces mixed in with the more dull ones.
Mel – You went to a bridal fair??!!