My Personal Shopper

I have a new dress.  Actually, a new suit and a new dress, but the dress is a summer dress so I won’t be wearing it for a while.  But I wore the new suit this past Sunday.  Several ladies came up to me and said, “How beautiful. Did Cal buy it for you?”

I’m not shocked that they ask if Cal bought it.  They know. My birthday is just after Christmas so Cal cuts coupons and hits the after Christmas sales. But besides the willingness to brave the crowds, he has another gift. Cal is a very talented artist with an eye for line and color. He can pick something off the rack and know (without a shadow of a doubt) if it will fit, if the color will work for me, and if the line will flatter me.

When we were first married, I doubted his abilities.  When I shopped (which I hate with a vengeance), he’d hold out something and say, “Try this on.” I’d say, “Um, it’s orange. I don’t look good in orange.”  Then at his insistence I’d try it on.  Guess what? I can wear orange, it just has to be the right shade.

Nowadays he gets up early and heads to the after Christmas sales with Ariel.  It’s sort of their father-daughter outing. And while she does model the outfits for him, she’s not mainly along to make sure they’re going to fit (although the rule of thumb is that if it’s big on her, it’ll fit me). And she’s not along to make sure that Cal doesn’t make any fiasco purchases (his eye is perfect; he doesn’t make a mistake). She’s along to make sure that Cal buys something appropriate.

When he first started buying clothes for me, Cal came home with cocktail gowns. I’d try on the dress and show him.  He’d say, “Wow. That looks great.”  I’d say, “Honey, don’t get me wrong, I love the dress.  But where am I going to wear a backless, ankle-length velvet gown?  Not to church, clearly.”  He’d answer, “When we go out to dinner?”  Hmm. That would work if we went somewhere other than the cheap Mexican place.  Thankfully, we’ve been able to go on a few cruises and I’ve had plenty of gowns to wear.

But now, he buys things that I can wear more than twice—like the silk shantung suit in stunning mulberry color that he got me this December. It’s gorgeous. Or the white sheath with ruffle tucks—I can’t wait for summer.