Be Mine

For me, a great dress comes with a great story, and so it goes for this one by Roberto Cavalli. I first came upon this dress when I discovered it in a forest green color at The Scoop Brentwood store back in December. A woman was returning it, and rather than just stand there in silence, I told her that it was really pretty. She told me that she was buying it to wear to a wedding but thought that the place and time of year (San Francisco in December) seemed a tad too cold and wintry for this lightweight little dress, so she was returning it. Unable to resist the urge, I asked her if, since she was returning it, I try it on.

She told me to go ahead since she was definitely not taking it. When I emerged from the dressing room, it was love at first sight. Comfy and pretty were what it had going for it. I was definitely purchasing this dress, especially since it was marked down by 40%. What I didn’t realize is that the more I raved about it, the more the woman who was returning it softened towards the dress. Inevitably, she changed her mind. I was quietly crushed, and with a smile, I reluctantly changed back into my clothes and handed it over to the original buyer.

The sales people assured me that they would order me one immediately and not to worry. I drove off feeling like all was well in the world of shopping; only moments later, I received a call from Scoop telling me that the dress was sold out in my size. I scolded myself for having opened my mouth in the first place. Had I simply stood there, lips sealed at the time of the dress’s return, it would be in my car on its way to MY closet.

Lucky for me, this story has a happy ending. While sifting through racks and racks of 75% off dresses at Saks, I came upon the same dress in red…more my color, and in my size. I took this as a sign from above (Jeff, my husband, probably has a perplexed expression or is rolling his eyes as he reads this) and bought it. The feeling of vindication championed my emotions, and I knew just when I would be wearing this dress. This would be my Valentines Day dress because like my Valentine, Jeff, this dress was also “meant to be!”