Cocaine Princess here.
During the summer I attended The Queen's Plate---- Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America.
This year the Queen's Plate was celebrating their 155th anniversary. I've never had any interest in horse racing let alone horses so my primary interest for going was to attend the Hats & Horseshoe Party. As soon as I received my invite all I could think about was 'what am I going to wear?' Picture an enormous fancy English, style garden party surrounded by a horse-track.
The first thing I purchased was my hat. I decided to go with a fuchsia colored fascinator.
Similar to The Kentucky Derby hats were a requirement for the party. The tradition of wearing hats originates from the country of my birthplace, England. Back in the day the Queen was often the center of attention at the races, as to what color and style of hat she would be wearing.
Since the late 1800s, women who attended the races were encouraged to dress to impress with all sorts of colors, designs and sizes that make them standout among the crowd. As years progressed it became more of a fashion event. (So you can understand why I was excited to go!!)
Next on the list was my outfit. The one thing I wasn't going to wear was a dress. I wanted to do something different only because I knew a lot of the women would be wearing the typical A-line style dresses. Not that there's anything wrong with that but I wanted to be a little different.
I lost count how many different malls and stores I visited looking for the perfect outfit. I'm not sure how many of my loyal, male readers will relate to this but then again maybe you will--- have you ever seen an article of clothing at a store and it just spoke to you, 'Buy me! Buy me!' This has happened to me countless times so I knew that's what would happen when I would see the perfect outfit. 3 months went by and nothing spoke to me. I was almost at the point of pulling out my hair when I saw there were only 2 weeks left on the calendar but thankfully I finally found what I was looking for one day while in the city. I saw the outfit displayed in a boutique on a mannequin. It wasn't so much speaking to me as it was screaming, "Buy me! Buy me!"
A mint colored, backless halter mini romper. Isn't it cute!
Hat- check!
Outfit-Check!
Next up--- shoes. Because I wanted everything to be color coordinated finding my outfit was a piece of cake compared to finding my shoes. I needed the exact same shade of pink as my fascinator. I went to a bridal store and figured I would get a pair custom dyed to match my hat. The only problem with that was I wasn't happy with the type of shoes they had available. The three different bridal stores I went to all carried the same type of shoe-- and they were all really ugly. Ick! Panic began to set in when I realized I had less than 72 hours. When I told sister her brilliant solution was to just wear a pair of black stilettos.
ME: Black?!
I immediately showed her the outfit I was planning to wear.
ME: Do you see any black in this outfit?
SISTER: No
ME: Exactly. So you see why I can't wear black stilettos?
SISTER: Darling, what are they going to do if you show up wearing black shoes-- not let you into the party?
ME: Yes and they might ban me from attending next year's party. Is that what you want?
Of course they weren't going to but I just wanted to be perfectly matched from head to toe!
ME: I have searched everywhere, high and low and nobody has the shade of pink or style I need.
SISTER: Did you try here in town?
ME: No.
I live in a very small town. Our biggest store is the Walmart Super Center. Most of the stores in town are independently owned, stores I normally don't shop in.
ME: Hmm, maybe I should swing by.
Who knew sister's recommendation would turn out to be a good thing. One of the shoe stores had the exact shade of pink and style I wanted--- but they didn't have my size.
ME: Why are the Fashion Gods doing this to me?
The saleslady laughed however I was in no laughing mood. When I explained my dilemma she said she could have the stilettos shipped from their supplier in my size. Just to make sure I tried the same pair on in white. They fit perfectly!! I told her I needed the shoes asap and she assured me they would be at her store within 24hours---- provided I pay for the transfer fee. The shoe supplier was located in the United States so on top of paying for the shoes and transfer fee, I also had to pay for the shipping fee as well as the customs and duty tax.
Good Lord! My shoes ended up costing more than my outfit, hat and ticket combined.
To Be Continued.....
****
My loyal and dear readers, it's finally Friday.
Whatever your plans are have a fantastic weekend. ~x
XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess
