straightened the hangers and stopped looking just as the saleslady came back carrying a thin, filmy garment.
Holding up the pale lavender dress by its hanger, she said,“Isn’t this the most elegant thing you’ve ever seen? It’s handkerchief linen in lilac.”
I looked at it, then reached behind me, feeling for a chair. I collapsed on it with a sudden shortness of breath.
“Tell me,” I gasped. “Tell me Binkie didn’t pick that one. Why, it’s hardly more than a slip.”
“Oh, Miss Julia, it’s beautiful,” Hazel Marie said, which didn’t surprise me at all, considering her natural taste in clothes. “Just look at the little spaghetti straps and the way the skirt flows from the Empire waist. And these darling little roses in the same material right where the bodice dips down low in front.”
“I see them,” I said, fanning myself with a magazine. “And so will everybody else. That’s why I’m about to have a heart attack here. Hazel Marie, there’s not enough on top to cover what needs to be covered. What is Binkie thinking of? It’s entirely inappropriate.”
Paying no attention to my palpitations, the saleslady unzipped the dress. “Go ahead and try it on,” she told Hazel Marie, “and I’ll be back in a minute with the fitter.”
“Oh, wait,” Hazel Marie said. “I know the groom shouldn’t see what the bride will wear. But can we?”
“We altered it just a little yesterday while she waited, and she took it with her. But I can tell you that it’s similar to yours, only in blush.”
Blush, I thought as I leaned my head back against the chair. All I could picture was Binkie in that next-to-nothing dress standing before a temporarily sanctified altar in my living room in front of God and everybody. Whatever happened to pointed sleeves and high necklines and veils that cover head and shoulders, suitable for a detailed write-up on the society page? I should say, blush. That’s what we’d all be doing.
When the saleslady left, I whispered to Hazel Marie, “Howin the world does anybody wear such a thing? Why, your underwear straps’ll show.”
“No, they won’t,” she said, beginning to unbutton her blouse. “You wear a strapless.”
“A strapless?” I didn’t own such a thing.
“Well, actually, most people don’t wear anything underneath.”
“Well, I hope you don’t plan to go half-naked.” I sat up then with a sudden thought. “Hazel Marie, you don’t think we can talk Binkie into something else, do you? That thing looks like something you’d wear to bed.”
She didn’t answer me, just held up that wisp of a dress, her eyes shining as she turned it this way and that. “I think I’ll just try it on. It’ll probably look a whole lot better when it’s on. And, Miss Julia, I’ll get out in the backyard for the next few days and get a tan. You don’t look near as naked when you have a tan.”
I held my head and moaned under my breath as Hazel Marie commenced coming out of her clothes right there in the main fitting room.
The saleslady came bustling back in about the time Hazel Marie got down to her step-ins, and they both acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. I would’ve been mortified if I’d been either one of them.
“Here we are,” she said, hanging up two long purple garments. “Now, this is the one Miss Enloe liked the best.” And she took one, holding it by the hanger and spreading the skirt-tail out on the carpet. “Why don’t you try it on?”
“Me? Binkie picked that one for me?” I couldn’t take my eyes off the thing.
“Yes, once she chose her dress and the bridesmaid’s, she decided it’d be nice if you blended in with her pastel color scheme. See how the lilac dress is just a shade lighter than this lavender one.”
“I thought it was purple,” I managed to say, my eyes still on the dress. All I could see was a long purple crepe with a cowl neckline that draped halfway to the waist and no sleeves, making it
Holding up the pale lavender dress by its hanger, she said,“Isn’t this the most elegant thing you’ve ever seen? It’s handkerchief linen in lilac.”
I looked at it, then reached behind me, feeling for a chair. I collapsed on it with a sudden shortness of breath.
“Tell me,” I gasped. “Tell me Binkie didn’t pick that one. Why, it’s hardly more than a slip.”
“Oh, Miss Julia, it’s beautiful,” Hazel Marie said, which didn’t surprise me at all, considering her natural taste in clothes. “Just look at the little spaghetti straps and the way the skirt flows from the Empire waist. And these darling little roses in the same material right where the bodice dips down low in front.”
“I see them,” I said, fanning myself with a magazine. “And so will everybody else. That’s why I’m about to have a heart attack here. Hazel Marie, there’s not enough on top to cover what needs to be covered. What is Binkie thinking of? It’s entirely inappropriate.”
Paying no attention to my palpitations, the saleslady unzipped the dress. “Go ahead and try it on,” she told Hazel Marie, “and I’ll be back in a minute with the fitter.”
“Oh, wait,” Hazel Marie said. “I know the groom shouldn’t see what the bride will wear. But can we?”
“We altered it just a little yesterday while she waited, and she took it with her. But I can tell you that it’s similar to yours, only in blush.”
Blush, I thought as I leaned my head back against the chair. All I could picture was Binkie in that next-to-nothing dress standing before a temporarily sanctified altar in my living room in front of God and everybody. Whatever happened to pointed sleeves and high necklines and veils that cover head and shoulders, suitable for a detailed write-up on the society page? I should say, blush. That’s what we’d all be doing.
When the saleslady left, I whispered to Hazel Marie, “Howin the world does anybody wear such a thing? Why, your underwear straps’ll show.”
“No, they won’t,” she said, beginning to unbutton her blouse. “You wear a strapless.”
“A strapless?” I didn’t own such a thing.
“Well, actually, most people don’t wear anything underneath.”
“Well, I hope you don’t plan to go half-naked.” I sat up then with a sudden thought. “Hazel Marie, you don’t think we can talk Binkie into something else, do you? That thing looks like something you’d wear to bed.”
She didn’t answer me, just held up that wisp of a dress, her eyes shining as she turned it this way and that. “I think I’ll just try it on. It’ll probably look a whole lot better when it’s on. And, Miss Julia, I’ll get out in the backyard for the next few days and get a tan. You don’t look near as naked when you have a tan.”
I held my head and moaned under my breath as Hazel Marie commenced coming out of her clothes right there in the main fitting room.
The saleslady came bustling back in about the time Hazel Marie got down to her step-ins, and they both acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. I would’ve been mortified if I’d been either one of them.
“Here we are,” she said, hanging up two long purple garments. “Now, this is the one Miss Enloe liked the best.” And she took one, holding it by the hanger and spreading the skirt-tail out on the carpet. “Why don’t you try it on?”
“Me? Binkie picked that one for me?” I couldn’t take my eyes off the thing.
“Yes, once she chose her dress and the bridesmaid’s, she decided it’d be nice if you blended in with her pastel color scheme. See how the lilac dress is just a shade lighter than this lavender one.”
“I thought it was purple,” I managed to say, my eyes still on the dress. All I could see was a long purple crepe with a cowl neckline that draped halfway to the waist and no sleeves, making it
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