Thursday, May 9, 2013

It's Taking Too Long

There's a shop not far from here called "Mae's Dress Boutique."  They advertised regularly in the Washington Post, but not your typical ad.  They had an eighth page ad with a picture and a border describing the types of dresses, such as "mother of the bride."

They never mentioned a price, and I think the fact that I always was nearby when in drab and the idea that I was out of my league kept me out of the shop.  It felt very upscale, and I am anything but upscale.  Plus, for some reason, I found the name intimidating.

There was another women's clothing chain that took a while to get over the "entry barrier."  I forget the name, but they were only open on weekends and had a name that just seemed to say "ladies only" to me.  I did finally go in there once and found nothing, except for a sea of estrogen.  I recall it was ALL women and me (in drab; this was before I went out, but I was thinking about it).

Last week, I had a little extra time ~ my next client didn't want me there before 4:30 and I left my previous client at 3:00 and my drive took me right past Mae's.  I stopped.  I walked over and the shop had mirrored windows all around.  There was a Chipotle next door which also had mirrored windows.  It was part of a low office building.  I was unsure, after all this time, about going in.  It just didn't feel right.

So I walked around a bit.  I walked to the next block and around the office building there, past nail places and salons and medical offices.  On the next block, I found a small consignment shop.  I went in.

It was very nice.  Clothing was tagged with multiple prices and dates: after each date, the price would drop.  They had some very nice jewelry, but I wasn't really looking for jewelry at the moment.  I saw some lovely dresses and skirts, but the ones I coveted were not in my size.

I left empty-handed and walked back to Mae's, ready to go in even though it would just be for a few minutes.

Mae's is gone.  The store is for rent.

My trip to "I don't care" needs to be an express, not a local.




2 comments:

  1. Meg -

    It's possible that caring while en-homme is a warning mechanism that needs to be fine tuned. Even if our male persona were welcome in places oozing with estrogen, it might be overly awkward for us to exercise the privilege of being welcome in those places.

    In my case, I wait for a day where my Marian persona can go to these places, and I don't get greedy with my Marian time. In fact, I'm going to have an option to have a Marian day on Sunday - only because the datable females in my life are all occupied with their parents or their children....

    M

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  2. Maybe it was for the best. That consignment shop probably will prove to be more useful to you than Mae's would have been. Nothing this time around, but another month from now, who knows? We have one locally that's part-owned by a TS that is a great place to start if you're looking for an occasion dress.

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