Some recent series of events confirmed my belief that there is very little we will not do, especially if you have ever experienced the instant spark in the eyes of someone you like as they can't take their eyes off of you when you enter the room or the jealousy in those of another who wished that those eyes were zooming in on her.

Every single woman I have known, including a few tomboys, relatives, friends, customers, acquaintances and rivals; all of them will go to serious lengths, just a tad short of committing certain crimes which later would make them cry for the first amendment to come to their rescue, to get that dress that is so perfect.

Now, I now that I am completely and utterly obsessed with fashion so for me it is not a huge thing to do things for fashion that I don't usually do for anything else. I have lived in San Francisco for 15 years. I am a total city girl so I rarely leave the city and I rarely feel the need to. I am too lazy to walk the 20 feet from my bedroom door to the fridge to get a glass of water or the 10 from my desk to the bathroom until I really, really, really need to go.

Yet, I have driven the 1,5 hrs. to Walnut Creek in the East Bay once in 15 years to buy a pair of shoes only the Nordstrom there had left in my size, the 2 hrs. to San Jose three times (except for the period when I worked at one huge corporation there) to the BCBG outlet sale, and the 2,5 hrs. once to Tracy to check out the only outlet I have not yet visited in the entire state of CA. And have I mentioned that I have been known to visit almost every store in Tahoe to find the matching boots to my skis? Yes, it is that bad.

I know that if my best friend and, consequently, my poor parents half way across the world get a call from a pay phone in the middle of the night one day, it will most likely be because of a very fashionable crime, and it makes me feel like I am part of a bigger cause when I meet ladies who are almost as addicted as I am.

A month ago I came across a post on one of the plus-size fashion blogs from a lady who was frantically in search of a dress we used to carry and no longer make. She has checked the website, inquired with customer service, called the stores that carry IGIGI, but the dress was nowhere to be had. I guess she finally resorted to posting online to see if anybody had it and was willing to sell it.

Do I have enough time to count the number of times I had been in her shoes? I had to help her.

I knew we absolutely did not have it in stock. I emailed her and let her know who I was and offered to check my media rack on Monday morning to see if I had one. Monday disappointed me, but Tuesday proved much better as my production manager walked to my desk with a hanger attached to a dress no other than the one the search warrant asked for.

She got the dress, wore it to a black tie event and was ecstatic. The end result, one new happy friend, a reaffirmed sense of belonging, and half my annual goodwill quota fulfilled.

Recently, I had a similar experience myself. Friday 6:30 marked gym class on my calendar. I was tired and cranky and decided to ditch the class and check out the stores. They opened a new store on Chestnut where I got a vest that I really liked before. I popped in to see what else they had and before I knew it I was popping into a dressing room with two hangers and walking out with one giant shopping bag.

I got one top and one black dress. God knows there is a whole section in my closet which may give someone the impression that I have been to more funerals than parties in my short life span, but as we all know, it is the most flattering, sexiest color, and you can never have enough many black dresses. I had to have it.

Last weekend, I had a date and when I walked in, I was welcome with a ton of sparks in someone's eyes. Totally worth it!

TillnextTime
The Fashionistique