Fashion and Friendship

It's the morning after my big shopping day (and going to the Eiffel Tower at night), and I have shopping hangover! But it was all worth it. Plus I'm waking up to a gorgeous, warm, sunny day which isn't too common here in Paris.

I went shopping with Stylist and Fashion Consultant Heather Price. She's the one who also took me to get my hair done. It's nice to have someone who knows where to go, speaks the language and buys me a Coke when I need it.

So Heather and I took a taxi to the 16 arrondissement and headed for a boutique she recommended. She kindly warned me to be prepared -- that we'd probably spend most of my budget in this store. We walked in, Heather kiss-kissed the shop girl, and we headed to the dressing room.

I'm always skeptical about shopping and finding something to fit the junk in the trunk. Heather had already reminded me that we'd probably need some tailoring to close the gap in the waist -- curvy girls like us need to buy a couple sizes up! Plus she told me that tiny models get their clothes stitched and tacked here and there too. So I'm not a fashion freak, and it's perfectly normal for clothes not to fit.

But guess what! The clothes in this store fit me (almost)!! Well ... they fit the waist-to-hips ratio at least, but I still need to get the pants hemmed and a couple of other odds and ends done. And every piece of clothing that she and the shop-girl brought over was beautiful and looked amazing when I tried it on!

So in the midst of the shock-and-awe shopping, I had to make tough choices to stay in my budget. I wasn't buying things by default just because they were the only things I could find that looked decent. I actually had to weed out really awesome clothes, which thankfully Heather also helped me do.

After all of the excitement of seeing myself in clothes that made me look taller and slimmer, Heather decided we needed a Coke/coffee break. We didn't have much more shopping to do so we took our time. She was also surprised at how well the first store went, and said that I was her easiest client ever.

To make sure I got my value out of her, she promised to spend a couple of hours with me putting all the outfits together and taking pictures so that I can remember what to do when I get home. Which is exactly what I wanted, because remember, I was skeptical about the actual shopping. What was more important to me was finding out about "my style," learning how to accessorize and generally looking more polished but still having a little edge.

Maybe the best part of the hair-shopping experience though, is that I made a friend in Paris! Heather and I really hit it off. We have a lot in common and had a really great time learning about each other. We're going to hang out together some more while I'm here, and I'm really looking forward to it. I guess I'm going to have to learn how to use my French phone after all!