Memories! Military Officer Gets Married!

Working at Nordstrom provided me with so many wonderful shopping memories. I truly loved my work there and am grateful for these experiences:

Military Officer’s Rockabilly Wedding Dress:

Although I worked in the women’s department exclusively (plus size), I was asked occasionally to help a customer from another department.

One fun afternoon, a petite woman asked me for help in finding a dress for her wedding – which was to happen that coming weekend! She was soon to be shipped off on deployment and this was her only chance to get married before she left!

She worried that her height and hourglass/athletic figure would be a challenge. (She’d tried other stores with no luck.) We chatted about how she envisioned herself looking, and she explained that she wanted something with a Rockabilly-50’s inspired, sophisticated look. And she wanted to be able to wear it again! She’d planned on wearing stacked black heels and had no preference on a short versus long dress.

We walked over to the Special Occasion department and perused the racks. At first, our selection seemed daunting. Would she go for a floor length red flemenco-inspired frock? A short figure-flaunting black number or a 50’s inspired black wrap dress? We tried them all.

The red dress was a stunner – full of panache and looked amazing on her! She was in shock! We snapped a few photos on her iphone and sent them to her sister for approval.

Then we moved on to the figure-flattering look. It screamed sexy! We agreed that, although this would be a great dress, it wasn’t quite wedding appropriate.

Finally the black wrap was next. It fit like a glove. She looked just like a star from a swanky 50’s movie. More photos were sent to her sister and we waited.

Decisions, decisions, which would it be? The red dress was a once-in-a-lifetime look. Memorable and gorgeous. But would it overcome her fiance’s gray pin-striped suit and their low-key wedding?

Back to the black wrap. It was more subdued, but fit like a glove and fulfilled all of her wishes. She could create her original look to a T. The dress, complimented with beautiful high heels; a gorgeous chignon, accented with a flower; and red lipstick with a cat-eye. Gorgeous!

Her sister called and confirmed what we had both been thinking – the 50s inspired wrap. She beamed with excitement as we put it in the garment bag and was on her way.

We’ve only our imagination to envision exactly how she looked that day. I’m sure it’s just as she intended and heloved it!

Here’s a version of the dress from Nordstrom.com.