Coming soon to our compound is the "Ladies Night Out" in the restaurant. Basically, the idea is to wear the most outrageous dress that you can find. And where does one find such a dress? Well at the second hand souq of course! So off we went in search of treasures.
I had been to the second hand souq once before, but that was mainly just to find out what it was all about. It was a lot of fun going through all of these old clothes but everything was very dusty and some of the things smelled like cat pee. I had been told that there are Arabic parties, and that I simply must have a dress ready to wear if one happens to come up, so while I was there last time, I bought 2 dresses that I thought might work. The thing is, you can not try anything on and everything is filthy anyway so even if you were allowed to try on, no one in their right mind would even think of it. The first time I went, I just guessed at the sizes and hoped for the best. We held things up and tried to stretch them to see if they would fit but this is over the abaya and your clothes underneath so it was anybody's guess.
Last time I bought 2 dresses. After washing them both, I was able to squeeze myself into the first one and I also managed to get it zipped up. This was all well and good until I went to take it off. As it turns out, this was going to be a problem. After many efforts and various contortions, I finally realized that there was no way that I was going to get out of this dress on my own. At that point in time I did not yet have a cell phone and I had no idea how to call out on the house phone. I later found out that to do this you need to add 500 to the villa number. Evidently this information was a day late and a dollar short. (Or perhaps I should say a Riyal.)
I sat around for a few minutes hoping that my friend would just happen to come by. She didn't. Eventually I had to find the scissors and make a cut between the zipper and the armhole. With this extra bit of room and me practically dislocating my shoulder, I was able to remove the dress with very little damage other than the one small cut. I don't have a picture of the dress right now, but one of my friends is planning on wearing it and she said I could post her picture!! So pictures will follow after Ladies Night Out!!
The other dress was way too big and not nearly as fun but I bought it as a back up. Here it is.
Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either. I just couldn't seem to find anything that time.
This time, however, I found 3 dresses. I also got smarter (so I thought) and brought a tape measure with me. Before purchasing a questionable dress I measured first. This is the first dress that I bought. I really only bought it as a back up dress because I was fairly certain I could get into it considering how it closed up.
In unhooks at the neck and there was a zipper on the side. It was a bit too big but very easy to get into. It looks perfectly hideous here but actually it didn't look half bad once it was on. Also, you can't really see it but there are a bunch of little hanging metal clusters all over the front that make a lovely little jingle when you walk. Anyway, it was just a back up. Now mind you, right after I purchased this dress, I was about to leave when I saw the most perfect dress for my Halloween Costume! The man took the dress down and I just loved it and it definitely looked like it would fit. Then he proceeded to try and charge me an arm and a leg for it. Now had I not previously already purchased the first dress, I could have probably struck a deal for both dresses because they usually charge less if you buy 2. But, he already had my money and he could tell I really wanted the dress. He started at 50 Riyal and I eventually paid 35 Riyal. (Last time I got both dresses for 30 Riyal) Anyway, after getting the dress home and washing it, I must say... I LOVE THAT DRESS!! Seriously, I would wear it out even if it were not Halloween. It would be a definite conversation starter.
I worked in a costume store for 3 years and 7 Halloweens. I have seen or heard of just about every Halloween costume. Not wanting to be the same thing as everyone else, I used to try and come up with an original idea. The problem is that no one ever gets it. Either that, or everyone just assumes that I am something else that was not what I intended.
Anyway, I am not going to show the dress just yet! To me it looks like the dress of a rebellious debutante ... but again, no one would get that... so I definitely have a more obvious idea than that. I think I need to take a cruise so that I can wear it to the formal dinner night. I seriously love this dress!!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that as we were standing around the souq, some guy walked right by me and and totally cupped my butt with his hand!! I was so stunned that my jaw just dropped and I couldn't even say anything for a moment. Then I told my friends, "That guy just grabbed my butt!" Then, I am assuming because I didn't say anything to him, he kept trying to come back! One of my friends gave him a look that probably shot daggers through him and he went away for a while. (Remind me never to make her mad!) But eventually he came back again. This time I made sure that I was facing him and I said, (very loudly mind you) "GO AWAY!" And he did. The nerve!
But back to dresses. At the last stand that we went to, I ended up finding a dress that I really liked. It was just fabulously hideous! I measured with my tape measure and it seemed like it would fit. I purchased it for 20 Riyal. I took it home and washed it and this is what it looks like.
Just lovely isn't it!! I know it looks a little grungy but I washed it before I took the pic. I may need to get myself a glue gun so I can glue open the flowers. I really think that my dress needs to be in full bloom.
Now to look at this dress, it's all flowers and rainbows and it just screams... "Put me on! I'm magical!" And so I did. Again, I managed to get it on but this time I could only partially get it zipped up. There was just no way that it was going to close up top. (I think that is the problem with buying a dress that was obviously made for a 15 year old girl.) The other problem was my measurements. I measured the dress across the top, but seriously, after putting the dress on, I don't think that even at 15 they were ever that high.
There was plenty of room in the waist and the hips, but the top was very unforgiving. Then, it got downright mean! Part of the problem with this dress is that the side zipper only comes down to the waist, so therefore you have to try and squeeze yourself in and out of the narrowest part of the dress. Also, the armholes are super small and high. I pulled the dress up as far as I could but it was just not coming off. I glanced at myself in the mirror and I looked like some sort of bizarre tri-colored tulip. Luckily, this time I could send for reinforcements. I sent out a text that said, "Seriously HELP! I am really stuck this time!!" Within five minutes they were both at my door and I went to greet them in my lovely party frock. After having a good laugh, we went upstairs and with both of them pulling the dress over my head, I managed to break free! (And there was a lot more laughing upstairs as well.)
Despite this debacle, after closer examination of the dress, it was pretty clear that the dress could still be let out rather easily. So I undid one of the seams to the point where I could actually get in and out of the dress on my own and then took the dress to the tailor the next morning. I tried on the dress for her and she took some measurements. She is going to put in a longer zipper and let it out up top and hopefully I will have some lovely pictures to post next week. Also, you can meet my new friends! Ahhh.. good times!
What!? A butt cupper?! Total perv!
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