ok, i'll have to tell y'all the story of the dress, y'all will love it. Valerie (my friend and "adopted" little sister) was the bride. she asked me about being in the wedding and was all apologetic about not asking me to be "matron of honor" (her little sister was - although more than one person at the wedding called me that) and told me she didn't care what i wore as long as it was a black evening gown.
well, i had gotten 2 dresses off a clearance rack
years ago for $78 + tax. a steal.
well, one of them i ended up wearing for my daughter's wedding in nov 2003. still had the tags on it when i took it out of the bag for the wedding. the other one was in the bag still. about a month before this wedding i dug it out because i knew it was black and floor length. turned out to be a jessica mclintock and was PERFECT. matched the other bridesmaids beautifully. all i had to do was find a wrap (sears $20) and shoes (sears again $27 - matched the dress perfectly - right down to the sparkles on one band and satiny smooth on the other - another clearance rack find).
when i got around to pulling the tags off the dress, i discovered the total of the 2 dresses retail was over $450
I am a very blessed person.
even though, i prefer my overall's and actually, those overalls cost more than the dress did!