A Lux Fashionista's Milestone Was Met Today

There are milestones in a "normal" person's life.  As a child, this milestone is reached when you learn to crawl and walk, and another is met when you utter your first word.  As an adult, milestones are met when you start your first job or get married.  Luxury fashionistas have certain milestones that don't factor into a "normal" person's life.  I consider myself a luxury fashionista, and my milestones included the following: the first time I walked into a designer boutique and the first time I bought a designer handbag.  Then these milestones became associated with fashion houses: the first Chanel bag, the first pair of Christian Louboutins, the first Hermes accessory...the first...time I tried on a Herve Leger bandage dress. 

Sometime in 2009, I put an HL dress on for the first time.  I was not impressed.  The sales associate told me that HL bandage dresses were flattering on everyone. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided "everyone" didn't include me.  I was overweight and not happy with the way I looked, so why would I want to wear a piece of clothing that showed off my body?  I avoided the dresses for over 3 years. 

In late 2012, as I was shopping online, I found a gorgeous black HL dress for a steal.  I had lost a significant amount of weight and was ready for more body-conscious fashion, so I took a chance and bought the dress.  It arrived the next day, and I was again disappointed.  It just didn't look right.  So I reluctantly took off the dress, folded it back up, put it into a box, and dropped it off at the post office.  I was hoping to surpass the milestone of trying a HL dress and actually own one, but it didn't happen.

A few weeks later, I went shopping with a mission to find a HL dress that I could finally call my own.  I found one and loved it, but alas, even on sale, it was still over $1000.  I may be the size I want to be, but my budget isn't what I want it to be, and this girl needs to save. 

Still determined, I went on my mission again today.  I visited another store, and I found the dress I liked again, but it was still over $1000. I almost walked out, but the sales associate was so nice and warm I opened up to her and told her I was looking for my first HL, yet was on a tight budget.  She seemed genuinely happy for me and said she understood, so she found me several dresses on sale.  I didn't like some of the styles, and some of them weren't my size.  She found me 2 gorgeous black dresses for under $600.  I told her I was hoping for color, but I'd try them anyway.  I put on the one with cap sleeves and loved it, but I needed 2 people to zip it up, and I felt like I was wearing a medieval corset.  Unfortunately, that style ran small and the next size up (small) was sold out in the whole country.  I put on a classic strappy style with a sweetheart neckline and loved it, but the S was actually too big.  The SA went in the back and said she didn't have a XS, so I contemplated buying the S, but she said that she wouldn't sell it to me cuz she knew I'd be unhappy with it.  I love honest SAs!  Disappointed, I took the dress off and began putting my clothes back on, then she said to me through the curtain, "I have an idea.  I have a feeling this will work".  She said she found a XXS in the strappy black dress and felt like it would work for me cuz the S looked really big on me.  I said I'd try it, so I did.  And voila!  It worked.  Now I know why I never buy clothes online (only if I've already tried the item on in person before).  I never would've guessed I could fit into a XXS.  And as a bonus, as body-conscious as this dress is, I can actually zip it up myself! 

To add a little twist to the story, the SA told me that the dress I originally went in there for did get marked down some more, so I had a choice to make. That dress was multi-colored and beautiful, but I decided that, since my budget is pretty tight, it may be a while before I get another HL dress, so I went with the black. I finally met the milestone of buying my first HL dress. I hope I made the right choice. What do you think?