Let me start by saying that I am not the kind of girl that likes to go clothing or shoe shopping. If I find something that fits and I like it, I will buy several of the item to last and call it a day. On Sunday, I went out to look for a dress to wear to a family wedding coming up soon. Nothing that I had worked for a number of reasons, so shopping was a necessity. My mother and father took me to look in places that they had seen dresses. After no luck at Kohls (no dressy items at all), we went to JC Penney. My mother had bought her outfit for the wedding there and knew that they had a good plus sized department.

We got to the department and there was a lot to browse though. Of course, any two piece items were automatically out. My top and bottom are much different in size. I could technically go to the non-plus size for pants and skirts, but not tops. *sigh* There was a large display of summer dresses without sleeves. I was ready to dismiss them when my mother talked me into trying them on. She reminded me that I could always something to put over my arms if I wanted it.

The first dress I tried on left me without words. It fit, almost too well. The length was perfect, the sides were high enough to cover my bra and the girls were in place nicely. My mother asked why I never wore sleeveless items. I think this reminded me why. Most items are not made to fit like a dress and show off too much bra or even more that should not be seen. I kept trying more dresses on and fell in love with another dress. My mind immediately went to the cocktail parties at BlogHer this summer. I walked out of JC Penney with two new dresses at 50%. A quick call to TechyDad made me realize I was lucky not to be home.

Now the hunt is on. I need a pair of shoes to match my dresses. If at all possible, I would like silver wedges so they can be worn with both. Thursday, I spent the day on a shoe hunt. Talk about frustrating! Thanks to a high instep, cute shoes are hard to find that fit. Shoe after shoe did not work. I really liked a pair of silver wedges at Macy’s, but after 3 minutes the leather left a nasty looking rub mark on my foot.

Looking online is great, but I really need to try something on. Not sure I have enough time to order something in case it doesn’t fit. I did find a great looking pair of shoes called Cupcake from the YOU line by Crocs. Before you roll your eyes, check them out here:

 So my question to you this week:

Do you like to go shopping for dressy clothing and shoes  and why do you feel this way? If you are a shoe expert, any suggestions on where to hunt would be greatly appreciated.

Update: About 30 minutes after I typed this on Thursday evening, I was talking to my mother on the phone. She was near another shoe store and asked me to meet her there. Thank you Super Shoes! I found several pairs of shoes that fit, were cute and worked with my dresses. Not the best photo from my cell phone, but it will do for now (modeling shots were on Twitter last night).

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #102