last friday: a tale of wedding dresses (and all manner of prettiness)

Oh alright. So, it wasn't exactly last Friday, but two Fridays ago. But if I said that, I wouldn't be able to avail myself of this rather crafty title, leading you to believe you're about to share in a cutesy sort of amusement that is not this ittle anecdote.
There.

So, two Fridays ago, after a most upsetting, pain-jabbing-in-my-left-eye-only?! migraine, I picked up last month's Vogue to revisit the prettiness that was the SATC issue since all the drama had died down. It was here that I discovered Sarah Jessica Parker's (or Carrie's) Christian Lacroix wedding dress towards the end of the magazine. It had actually been a couture! dress from his Fall 2007 collection!! (This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I dare you to tell me otherwise.)

Ever since my friends dragged me (thankfully)1 to see the movie opening wkend, I'd been gushing over this dress. It'd been my absolute fave especially teemed with the decadence that was all those strands of pearls, and I'd spent hours trying to find it. After looking through his recent wedding collections, I'd looked through the Spring 2008 Couture collection, assuming they (Patricia Field et al) wouldn't go too far back to pick out a dress. It all had to be au courant, no?? I'd searched the nonexistent corners of the web ― even enduring wretched re-echoed opinions of the dresses, the movie, blah, blah...2 But there it was. Fall couture 2007!! Heavenly delight. It's the character of the dress that's particularly appealing. Not every bride could pull it off. Smugly, I think to myself, "I'd totally rock it." That, and the three other dresses I will be adorning on my wedding day. Yes. I will be wearing four wedding dresses ― my bridesmaids and sisters, two each (no, not all at once, smart mouth *sticking out tongue* :)) Here's the count while we're on the subject: Dress 1: Church (most poufy of the bunch, much like the Vera Wang piece from the movie; my mother would probably require it); Dress 2: Reception; Dress 3: Dance with my darling father; Dress 4: Dance with new hubby. *J.o.y.* And no, I am not so deluded to believe in all that fairytale love nonsense that little gyrls grow up believing. Cynical much?? Yes. [But I do, however, believe in love that will grow with respect for one another (and a prenup!) and the prettiness that will be my f.o.u.r. wedding dresses!! So kiss me. Passionately.] That's the wedding dresses part :).

My entire being coursing with endorphins from this recent finding, I got online in search of some more prettiness.³ It would be perfect window shopping wish-list garnering! because I was awfully broke.⁴ When I ended up on my precious Funky LaLa webbie, and good thing too, I hadn't visited in a bit, I wasn't really looking for jewelry per se. After looking through some very pretty dresses, I came across the most enchanting, avant-garde trinkets.

What's most intriguing is that I'd been pining for pieces as I'd just seen for what now seems like an eternity. Two Christmas seasons past, I'd gone into my jeweler's shop to talk about having a ring with a butterfly (in mid-flight) made (in yellow gold). After my dearest jeweler, Gary Shteyman, a venerable artisan who runs Persona Jewelry and unnaturally patient man that he is ― I really wish he could recount the episode ― talked me through the pricing, I passed on it (and concentrated on picking mommy some pieces. Like I mentioned, Noël, Noël...) But, violà! Alissa Frazer of Agrigento Designs has loving answered my prayers, taking away all unnecessary control from my high-minded -priced consciousness and presenting me with this gorgeous! gorgeous! reasonably-priced ring.⁵



Knowing the price of gold ― which has nothing to do with the price of rice in China, this has nothing to do with anything, or maybe it does?? ― I'd been biding my time (for several months now), hesitant to show up to Gary's (again) to discuss possibility of creating some relatively intricate body jewelry with gold links of varying thicknesses ― although I have been in to pick up a few things. Yes, I come up with seemingly crazy ideas. But once more, sweet serendipity! NY-based (Hawaiian) designer Bliss Lau has pieces in antique brass and nickel. I can't explain this good fortune, neither can I adequately express my happiness. It's the little things really... LOL. (I still want to design my own piece with Gary, but this will do for now.) [Yes, my acct may have been topped off (somehow), but it won't be for long, unfortunately.]








Decadent kisses.


Footnotes:
1. I love these gyrls. Of course, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie (I just didn't want to be with the crowds of people that showed up to see the movie... but like I said, I l.o.v.e.d it!! And, I still haven't found the time to go a second time just to reabsorb all of its prettiness.)
2. I don't get it. Fashion is (almost) inextricably linked with celebrity culture, yet I manage to remain ignorant of said culture and the masses of people dedicated to following it. I think it gives me a headache.
3. It's never just one sniff with an addict, is it??
4. How does this make any sense?? I'll tell you. When I'm broke, I can look at anything without automatically keying in my card number to make a purchase. Same thing if I go into the shoppes. It's a treat really!! I can try on as many things as I want, without falling victim to a helpful sales associate. You see once anyone tries to help me with anything, I usually feel obligated to buy at least one item for their trouble!! But if I'm broke... Haha. Utterly pathetic.
5. It's just that given the options, I was gunning for the best possibly and that was just gunning for expensive!!