What's a girl to do?

I was so excited yesterday to see that my silk charmeuse had come in the mail. My excitement subsided somewhat when I opened the package however. I wasn't thrilled with the color. Don't get me wrong, it's really quite beautiful. My problem is that I get a picture in my brain of what I expect to see and if the item doesn't match that mental image, well, then I get disappointed! The silk was ordered from the Fashion Fabrics Club and it was only $8.95 a yard. The color was called Dark Turquoise. I pictured more of a teal which is what I wanted. So I have a decision to make. I can go to G -Street and use the 30% off one item coupon to get some silk charmeuse there. They have a lovely teal. The price is $21.95 less the 30% discount. I need around 5 yards. What's a girl to do? The fabric I got is a more summery color and would be really appropriate so I could certainly just keep it. Plus there's this leather skin at G Street that I've looked at the last 2 times I went. It is a drapey chocolate brown napa leather and it is enought to make a gored skirt. It's a large skin--23 square feet. I'm thinking that I may like to use my coupon on that. If that piece is still there, then I will consider that to be a sign that it was meant for me to have!

The silk is more muted than in the photo. The darker fabric is the organza which lines the lower part of the skirt. I'm thinking that I will actually use two layers of rayon lining because this charmeuse is lighter weight than I expected. I think there needs to be a little more weight for the dress to have that smooth silhouette. I will make the muslin for fitting this weekend. I need the dress on Aug. 11 so time is certainly of the essence!

Tomorrow night is my 35 year high school class reunion! It's always important to look nice for these things since you see people you haven't seen in years. Typically I get a new outfit, but I just didn't care that much this year. I have this skirt that I love from Marshall's--close fitting through the hips then almost a circle at the bottom. It has about 10 gores and it is a white cotton with a print which is embroidered rather than printed. It is black and white and goes with a number of things. So I saw this great black silk Nanette Lepore strapless bustier on Ebay and I had bid on it. When I went to check on the auction, the seller had ended it early and someone else had won! What's a girl to do?

I decided to go to Arundel Mills to Neiman Marcus Last Call which is the Neiman Marcus Outlet. Ems had bought a simply stunning Carmen Marc Valvo silk bustier that would stop traffic. It was originally $375, marked down to about $130 then 75% off that! Damn--they had another one that somewhat similar in the styling. I didn't get it, but I may have to go back. It was a navy blue print chiffon which was ruched over the entire piece. The boning and support in it was such that it would not move! Extremely well made! I'll wait until Sunday and go back. I don't know where I would wear it, but it would look fabulous with my new dress jeans and a little 1940's jacket! Anyway, I lucked out. They did have just one plain black silk bustier in my size! It is a Kay Unger piece and constructed in such a way, that it won't move. It will go with a lot of things that I have.

I took a picture of Sophia modelling the outfit. Who is Sophia? Well, she's my dressform. Fellow blogster Robin got a dressform and named it so I thought--gee! Mine has given me several years of service already with no complaints and, Lord knows, I've made her wear so questionable outfits! So I decided that Sophia would be a good name--named for Sophia Loren. Of course you can see the resemblance between
this:

and this:


So here is my outfit:

I figured it will go great with my red stilleto heel pumps!

I'm almost done with the One Skein Wonder. I really like the subtle color variations in the Malabrigo.


Then it's back to Fifi which I have to finish. I've become somewhat disenchanted with it so I will have to make myself work on it.

Bushism of the day:
"Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it." --George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000

Kitty Cam:
Greg takes a break from napping to wash his face! Such a hard life!