Pegleg Starfish

I don’t do dress up.  I haven’t worn a skirt/dress since senior prom in 2003.  I don’t even own a dress or a skirt at the moment.  It’s not that I’m against them, it’s just not really me.  I think a lot of it has to do with being on the chunky side.  If I was skinny-I think I’d be wearing cute skirts and dresses all the time.  I think. 

I have a wedding to attend Memorial Day weekend.  The attire is “semi-formal.”  I’m not quite sure what that means.  But I do know its somewhere in between casual and formal.  That doesn’t help much, but at least I know that my pajamas and my prom dress from 2003 are out of the question.  That leaves a lot of room for error. 

I recently discovered CATO’s.  It’s a clothing store for women.  They have misses/juniors as well as plus size clothing.  It’s very similar to DressBarn.  They have really cute stuff and I’ve found some cute tops to wear to work.  I thought that it would be the perfect place to find a semi-formal outfit for this upcoming wedding.  I went there a couple weeks ago after work and tried on 50,000 different things.  I tried satiny tops with capris and skirts.  I also tried some tops with skirts.  I thought a satiny top with a skirt would be semi-formal enough. 

Look here I am trying it on:

First of all, let me tell you that normally I look much prettier, skinnier, refreshed, etc.  This was taken yesterday after a long day at work.  It was 90+ degrees here today.  So just imagine the outfit with me looking just a little better. 

This shirt is the whole reason I spent over an hour at this particular Cato’s store.  Two weeks ago I found this shirt at the Cato’s right near my work.  I tried on the Large size and it fit, but the shoulders were a little tight.  Like if I would have tried to hug someone the back of the shirt would have split open like a fat mans pair of pants.  I always have this problem when it comes to non-stretchy shirts.  I have man shoulders and a giant rib cage so I need shirts that I can move in.  And since I’m shopping for a wedding outfit I’m kinda assuming I’ll hug someone along the way.  Ok…so I asked one the sales associates if they “had any in the back.”  I of course had no idea if they even had any stock in the back, but it was worth a try.  The girl said, “Ummm…everything we have is out.”  But she did offer to call another store to see if they had the same shirt in an Extra Large.  “No thanks, I’ll check back later to see if you get one in,” I told her.  So Friday I went back after work to see if they had any more in.  No XL’s.  She was nice enough to locate one at another store for me.  I went home and recruited T to drive me to the other store.  “Hun…I’ve just gotta run in real quick and buy this shirt that they are holding for me.”  He brought reading material because he knew that was a total lie.  I ended up trying on the shirt (the one in the pic) and 50 other things like skirts, dresses, shirts, and capris.  Once I put on that black shirt with a skirt it didn’t really look that good.  It wasn’t as formal as I thought it would be.  And the shirt had a sash.  I hate sashes!  Death to sashes!  I tried on a few skirts, but they were all made out of like linen material which was pretty casual in my mind.  I didn’t get the shirt in the end.

Here’s another idea I had (not the jeans, but the top):

I bought this top at the nearby Cato’s in a cream color.  But I love green, so I tried this on.  I thought it might look cute with some black or white capris.  I didn’t end up buying the green.  I really liked the cream color more.  This is still a possibility if I find some cute black capris.  Maybe.  I did buy the jean capris that I’m wearing in that picture.  In case you wanted to know.

And choice number three (which I actually purchased, but may still return):

EEKKKK….a dress!  I tried this on twice and put it back on the rack.  Then after I got back in the car and T was ready to pull away from the store I jumped out and went back in a bought it.  Just in case I decide that this is what semi-formal is.  The dress is pretty cute and feels good on-not too tight or loose.  It falls just below my knees, which is a good thing because I have knock knees from hell so they must stay under cover at all times.  Another thing that I liked about this dress is that the fabric on the boobs didn’t stick out all funny.  I have no boobs so fitted tops look funny because there’s a bunch of fabric there but no boobies to fill it out.  I didn’t notice that with this dress.  I thin, that I would find a little shrug or jacket to wear over top. 

But is it formal enough?  I just don’t know.  The material is cotton I think, and it’s not shiny satin like some formal stuff.  But it is a summer wedding.  Here’s a closer look at the fabric:

There are little clear sequins sewed onto the dress.  What do you think?  Semi-formal or too casual? 

I’m going to continue looking for a perfect outifit, but I kinda like this dress.  There are a few more stores that I want to go to.  T said he’s not taking me.  I don’t blame him. 

And really…picking the outfit is the easy part.  Next I will have to pick shoes to go with it.  And I wear a size eleven!  I bet you didn’t even know women’s shoes were made that big.  And I have crazy monkey toes and unnecessary bones and bumps on my feet.  I’m a mess, really. 

I’ll keep you posted on the search for semi-formal.  But gimme your input.  Thumbs Up?  Thumbs down?  Is a top and capris to casual?  Why does life have to be so hard?  Guys have it so freakin’ easy when it comes to crap like this.  Blue shirt or black shirt?  Stupid guys. 

Happy Saturday!!!!!! 

T and I are going to the Art Car parade today.  You’ve probably seen them, those cars with stuff all over them.  Like pennies or teddy bears, etc.  I’m excited.

And here’s a LOL Cat that made me laugh and kept my mind off of the fact that I shopped without success for about 2 hours Friday.  Frick!!!!

HAHA.  Get it?  Like Tom Cruise from Risky Business.  Get it????