noteful | Wedding Dress Shopping

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Wedding Dress Shopping

After flipping through several bridal magazines, and walking past a shop with a dress in the window that looked rather like it could double as the big top should the circus come into town, Meg has decided that Parker's advice to think about looking for a vintage wedding dress is very sound indeed.

(Besides, if she doesn't find a vintage dress, the new ones will all still be there.)

So she's done her research, asked around about shops people would recommend (and not recommend) and come up with a list of places that might be worth checking out.

Now all she needs is moral support and fashion advice.

Which is why she has asked Parker and Laura to come to Montreal today.

Well, that and because she really can't imagine not making them part of her wedding, even though there's no practical way to ask them to be bridesmaids without inviting a slew of awkward questions. So instead, she will ask them to help her find a dress.

Besides, they have an excellent track record for finding the right dress.

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Parker is not really skipping along as they make their way down the sidewalk. But her walk could most definitely be described as 'jaunty'.

Hey -- dress shopping with two of her favorite people in the multi-verse.

Parker cranes her neck a bit to see the list in Meg's hand.

"So. Where are we starting?"

X flicks a quick glance at the list as well, then turns a little farther to look at Meg.

"There are specific selection criteria?"

Besides white?

And vintage?

"We are starting in that shop up there on the left," Meg says, pointing.

"And . . . nothing too heavy or fluffy. It's a summer wedding, so lightweight fabric might be good. Probably at least floor-length.

"I don't know beyond that. I think it'll depend on what we find.

"Is that enough to start with?"

"Oh, yeah. I think that's fine as a starting point."

"Like you said, it'll all depend on what we find. We'll just play it by ear. You don't want to put too many criteria in place right at the beginning."

Parker skips ahead a bit to get the door and hold it open for Meg and Laura.

"This will be fun," she beams.

"Yes," X agrees.

And then, realizing that her response could be to either Meg's or Parker's words, clarifies --

"It will be fun."

Beat.

"And I think that information is sufficient."

And if she is wrong, she can always ask again.

Right?

Meg waves off the saleswoman's offer of help.

She has already learned that the word wedding has an alarming ability to bring forth unsolicited opinions, sometimes at great length and often more or less useless.

(She suspects the secret will get out, if she starts trying on long white dresses, but at least they can scope things out without outside assistance.)

"Right.

"What looks good?"

Parker has already picked a rack and is going through dresses. (The shop doesn't have a huge selection, but it does have a decent one.)

"I say we just start looking. It'll probably be hard to get a feel until you try stuff on."

She pulls out one dress and looks it over.

"This is pretty. It's a lot of skirt, though." She holds it up higher. "And it would need to be hemmed a lot to fit you, which could be a job of work."

"There are very many buttons," X offers.

If she looks a little dubious, that may only be because she is not very familiar with wedding dress styles.

Maybe.

Meg nods. "It's kind of a look, for wedding dresses.

"It's not efficient, but it can be very pretty, on some dresses."

And very fussy on others.

Meg studies the dress Parker has found.

"No harm is trying it."

"Nope. No pressure, no rush. We're just scoping out options, today."

It's the zen, allow-the-universe-to-come-to-you approach to wedding dress shopping.

Parker looks around until she spots the curtained cubicles at the back of the shop. She nods toward them while carefully gathering the long skirt over one arm.

"After you," she tells Meg. "Bridal rules. You try on. We schlep."

"I do not know what schlep is."

X sounds vaguely apologetic about that.

Parker has been friends with Laura long enough to not even miss a beat.

"Slang. I think Yiddish. It means to carry. To lug. Carry loads. You schlep five bags of groceries up the stairs to your apartment."

"It's useful. Especially if you're in New York."

"Oh."

X absorbs that.

"I am good at carrying things."

It is good to be useful.

"I guess that's my cue to go be good at trying things on," Meg says.

Though it's not easy to try on a dress with quite that much skirt in the tiny curtained cubicle Parker has waved her into.

Still, eventually she emerges.

The dress is long on her, and she has to walk very carefully to avoid tripping over the skirt.

"What do you think?"

X blinks.

Twice.

Then she very carefully studies the vast swathes of material that make up the skirt.

After a moment of silence --

"Hemming will be effective?"

Parker has stepped back to get a better look.

"I think hemming is pretty much going to be inevitable."

Meg is tiny.

"I don't know." Parker gestures to her own collarbone area. "I can't decide if the collar is a little to overwhelming or not."

"I think we can probably do better. I mean, this is only the first one."

"How do you feel in it?"

"Half the things I buy new have to be hemmed."

Meg studies her reflection in the mirror on the wall.

"Truthfully? I feel a bit like I'm playing dress-up.

"It's a little too . . . I don't know how to say this. But like I'm wearing the dictionary entry for a wedding dress.

"It's pretty, but it's kind of . . . boring."

"It is the pattern?"

X studies the dress carefully.

"Of the fabric."

Beat.

"There is not enough ornamentation?"

"I think we're looking for more....I almost want to say more dramatic. I mean, not full body sequins with Christmas light trimming, but something different. This could almost pass as modern."

Just add some bows and more poof.

"Okay, then. Off with it's head!"

Or, you know, back to the rack with it.

"Do you need any help getting out of it?"

"Less . . . wedding dress cliche," Meg says.

"And I think I can manage.

"Is there anything else here worth trying?"

"You strip. We'll hunt."

Parker closes the cubicle curtain and drifts back toward the rack.

"You want to start at that end? See if you find anything that jumps out?" she asks Laura.

"Okay," X agrees, nodding once.

And after a minute or two --

"There are very many that look like this."

She considers it for a moment, flicking a glance toward Meg.

"I do not know if it meant to be floor length."

Meg looks out around the dressing room curtain to see what Laura has found.

"I don't think it's meant to be floor-length, but that's not an absolute requirement.

"I'll try it."

It's a bit . . . lacy.

But she'll try it.

"It's cute."

At least on the hanger.

"Hey, Meg?" Parker calls as she sifts through the dresses. "Does your church have any rules about bare shoulders or anything?"

Because if she goes strapless, they'll have to think about a wrap, or adding sleeves.

"No," Meg calls from behind the dressing room curtain, pulling on the dress Laura has found. "Nothing like that."

Hmmm.

Well, it's the wrong length, and the wrong shape, and it looks a bit like Meg got stuck while trying to climb out of a lemon meringue pie.

Or possibly like she's wearing an old table cloth.

"I don't think it's quite the right style for me," she says, stepping out so Laura and Parker can see.

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