'Ice Queen' and dress stress

I sat and made jewellery last night. I haven't made jewellery in ages! I've seen lots of ladies wearing those long necklaces lately and I wanted to make one that included my lampwork. The above is a close up of the resulting 'Ice Queen' necklace which is currently for sale on the Wearbles page of my website.

I went dress-shopping yesterday. I'm going to a posh birthday ball in November - my aunt and cousin's joint 18th and 40th celebration. The dress code is formal. I don't do dresses. Last time I wore one was for Sally's wedding last August.

After recoiling at the initial shock of being told 'Yes Laura - you do have to wear a dress' I looked some up on t'internet. I found a few I liked the look of but you have to try these things on, don't you? Last weekend my very patient boyfriend suggested we look for dresses (is he mad?) in Cambridge. We wandered about and I eventually found a couple and went into the changing rooms to try them on.

Gah! Changing rooms! What is it with them? Most of them are too small, too hot and I always seem to get the one that has the harassed Mum with two bored, noisy children next door who are repeatedly running some form of toy car up and down the wall while the Mum says things like 'No Charlie, don't do that!' and 'Yes, darling we'll go and get a McDonalds in a minute!' through gritted trying-to-be-patient teeth.

Anyway, I had these two dresses and decided to try on the one I liked more first. It was a kind of Lily Allen-style pale gold number with tiny black polka dots and a sash with a bow (looking back, what the hell was I thinking?!) and it had a net thingy underneath to puff it out. So I unzipped it and climbed into it but I couldn't get the flipping thing up over my hips so I had to put it on over my head. I got my arms through but I was stuck - I couldn't pull the dress down over my chest and there were bits of sash, net and lining sticking out at all angles. By now I was very very flustered and a bit stressed and I was aware that Chris was waiting outside the changing rooms in that manly no-I-really-am-waiting-for-my-girlfriend kind of way.

I was a bit stuck. Did I shout for help and risk the assistant seeing me in this bizarre big-puffy-dress being worn as an Elizabethan-style-ruff with my arms above my head teamed with bright pink underwear and red and black stripy socks situation? No. I calmed down and literally pulled bits of me through the dress an inch at a time until I had the dress under my chest and I could breathe normally again. Phew! I sorted the net out and tried to zip the dress up. But no - the damn thing wouldn't do up. I needed a bigger size - don't you just hate it when that happens? So in a mini-strop I unzipped the dress and to my horror the zip went down way further than I thought it did and the dress literally fell off me. Why the hell didn't I notice that at the start? If I'd have unzipped the thing the whole way to begin with it would've made getting into it so much easier!

I did contemplate not trying on the second dress. I was worried that security were going to start questioning Chris as to why he'd spent so long hanging around outside the ladies changing rooms. But I did try the second one on - navy blue with a tiny glittery gold firework-type design all over it (that sounds horrific but it was nice, honestly) and I swished back the curtain and went to see what Chris thought. He took one look at me, saw my red and black stripy socks, bird-nest hair and stressed face and he turned away laughing!

So I got changed and we left the shop with me all in a strop.

Yesterday I decided to go and try dress-shopping again, without the red and black stripy socks. I dragged my Dad along and I found a lovely dress in the first shop we went in. It was plain black, strapless and simple. I went to try it on and the lady put me in one of the disabled changing rooms. Lots of room! I tried the dress on (checking that I'd unzipped it the whole way this time) and did that thing where you spin round really fast to see how much the dress billows out! I'm not alone in that am I? I think it's a little girl thing - party dresses that 'went out' when you span round were fab, as were clippy-cloppy shoes!

Happy with the colour, the fit and the spinny-round-billowy-out factor I made my purchase and left the shop a very happy un-stressed dress buyer! Best thing is, I can wear the dress with a pair of shoes that I've had for almost a year and never worn. I got me a handbag to match said shoes yesterday too so now I'm all set for the party!