Cheap Thrills

I was uploading pictures earlier and had all but forgotten about the Fashion at the Park event that MK and I attended a few weeks ago:


Yes, we went to a Carolina Herrera show. You know the best part? We originally paid an... umm... a substantial amount of money (I mean the show lasts 20-25 minutes here people) and since the event was so much larger than in years past, they decided to reduce the price of tickets to $5 each.

Five dollars. The price of a Chick-Fil-A combo meal to be on the second row at a fashion show.

They were featuring all of her ready to wear clothes, and MK and I enjoyed watching and commenting on all of the clothes and models. There was one who still needed to work on her thousand-yard stare, she looked like she might trip on one of her four-inch heels at any moment. Cadillac sponsored the event, had photographers there and held a little cocktail hour afterward with candle-lit tables on the lawn outside of Neiman's.

Realizing that it was 7:25 PM and Northpark was still open, we polished off our champagne and walked back inside. We did, after all, have "$100 off of any purchase of $500 or more" vouchers to use at the Carolina Herrera store inside. So helpful.

We opted for our old standby, Nordstrom. MK is a whirlwind shopper; she breezes past everything, weaving through each department, and I could hardly move from Nanette Lepore to Trina Turk and back into reality before she was headed for the dressing rooms with a few, work-friendly dress options. I grabbed a few I thought she should try and threw them in the dressing room with her, while she gave me a monologue on her criteria for work outfits.

I tried on Marc Jacobs heels in the dressing room and examined them from the angles of three mirrors as she told me what she was looking for, before I saw any of it on her. She likes to have five "go-to" dresses that she can grab at any time, which makes sense for those of us who leave no time to be wasted in the early morning. This also means that said items should not wrinkle easily, should be of a cut and length that is tasteful and should easily transition from day to night. One's outfit should never scream "I just came from the office", just as it should never suggest "I'm leaving early for a night out".

She emerged wearing a very-flattering Elie Tahari dress, which actually looked like a skirt and top combination. There are a lot of those out there right now, by the way, is a great look because you are buying one piece but it looks like two, and you eliminate any bunching that would usually happen after you tuck your top in, or any otherwise unbecoming lines that would make your look frumpy.

MK was a little skeptical when looking in the mirror: "I don't think this revolutionizes my body," she said. Body revoltution, eh? I checked, and no, Spanx has yet to develop a product called the Body Revolutionizer. Nordstrom Girl and I pointed out that the only truly revolutionary piece of clothing a woman will probably have in her lifetime is her wedding gown. Now that should be awesome. But a dress you wear to work? That should be comfortable, fit well and look the appropriate amount of un-boring and business like.

Sometimes all you need is a five dollar fashion show and some imagination.

"Unity and simplicity are the two true sources of beauty."
-Johann Joachim Winckelmann