Saturday, January 5, 2008

Dress starts with D. So does Disaster...


See this dress? Take a good look at it. I bought it for my friend Donna's wedding last week, which was on a glass-sided boat on Sydney Harbour (sensational). It was the first dress in the first shop I went to when I was looking to find a frock. I wouldn't normally go for colours like these, but somehow they grabbed me. It fitted perfectly, and it is lovely with its pleats that fall to just below the knee.
I wore this dress just the once.
I write in past tense because the drycleaner has ruined it.
RUINED.
DAMAGED.
NEVER TO BE WORN AGAIN.
Shaun popped down the road to get our drycleaning today and brought the dress home. On one side of the yellowy top bit the fabric is pulled. There is a thread hanging out where it should be silky, smooth fabric. I can't see how it can be salvaged.
As soon as I saw it, I raced down the road and took it back into the drycleaners.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried in front of the poor little Vietnamese lady (it's not really her fault - she sends the clothes away).
Anyhow, I am trying to console myself with thoughts such as "it's only a thing" and "in the scheme of things it's so unimportant". Yep, all that.
But ... I liked that dress. In the whole realm of all things fashiony it wasn't even that expensive. But to me it was very expensive: it cost me $250. I just don't spend that kind of money on clothes. Ever. (And I may never again after this little experience.) I really deliberated before handing over my credit card, and the reason I did was that we have another wedding to attend in a couple of weeks. Damn it.
Why the heck didn't I just try handwashing it?
Argh.

2 comments:

Jess said...

Oh, I'm so sorry! You look beautiful...

LBA said...

OMG - that dress is beautiful ( and you look gorgeous ). i would have cried too - I *never* spend that much on clothes either - so when I do, I want to wear them more than once !!

Is there any recourse of action ?
What did Viet lady say ?