Fashion Quest--Part III

Two days after my fashion recon, I took my mother to the shops to see what I had picked out.  Mind you, this was a Saturday.  Not my favorite day to shop retail.  Unless it's a small used-book store.  But, I digress, as usual.  With all that's involved in getting my mother up, fed and ready to go, I realized how much easier it had been with an infant or small child.  Between her trips to the bathroom and the painstaking process of dressing, I have to allow her an hour just to get to the breakfast table.  So we got a later start than I planned, but it was still morning when we left.

It was sunny, but cool and breezy.  My mother wore long sleeves, but was still freezing.  We took her larger, more cumbersome walker (Winnie--really, that's the brand name) because it has a seat which she can use to rest.  It is never more apparent how slow she is than when she is crossing a busy shopping-mall parking lot on a Saturday.  Since Winnie has four wheels and the seat, I was tempted to sit her down and push it like a wheelchair.  But she needs the exercise, so we crawled across the traffic, backing it up about 10 cars in each direction.  (The shopping mall has a WalMart and Sam's Club near the clothing stores.)

Inside Catherine's, she was awed by all the styles and colors.  I steered her toward the dressy clothes and found the pants I thought would work for her.  As I went through the rack looking for her size, she was in the middle of the main aisle, trying to sit down on Winnie.  She didn't seem to have the wheels locked and I was worried she would fall.  There is a chair in the middle of Catherine's--I guess for tired shoppers or bored companions.  Someone beat her to it--big surprise.  I helped her to sit on Winnie near the pants I was looking through.  During all this, over-enthusiastic sales ladies were hovering nearby.  I made a loud comment on how someone beat her to the chair, hoping the women sitting on her behind would move.  (Yes,

I love the studs down the front
and the shirring at the wrists.

I know, very passive-aggressive, and rude, too, but what can I say?  It irks me when people who can walk don't defer to people who can't.)  A few minutes later the chair was unoccupied (see?  it works!) and I convinced my mother to sit there.  Using Winnie as a display rack, I brought clothes to her to consider.  As I expected, she liked everything I had chosen on my recon trip.  (No, I'm not being conceited, I just know my mother's tastes very well.)  She was like a queen with her court.  The sales ladies talked to her and she told everyone about the two weddings we had and how it was just like what happened with her son and daughter.  The sales ladies did help me, however, we couldn't find another top for her for the 2nd wedding.  After getting the navy pants and a T-shirt on clearance for her, the grey duster/cardigan and a wine-colored top for me, we were ready to move on.

We bypassed Lane Bryant and headed to Dress Barn.   Since the sidewalk was in shadow, she complained about being cold.  And I thought the stores were close to each other!

In Dress Barn, there was no choice but for her to sit on Winnie.  I got her set up in a relatively out of the way place and proceeded to bring items to her.  The palazzo pants and the pewter shoes for me were a given.  We looked at a couple of dressy jackets and tops for her, but nothing really went with the navy pants.  While I was looking through a rack of sleeveless tops for something to go with one of her possibilities, I found a medium-pink tank top for me to wear to the 1st wedding.  (The wine-colored top from Catherine's would be for the 2nd.)  I was pretty well set.  But what to get my mother?  Well, there was plenty of time before New Year's Eve to find something.  Although the October 1st checks would need to cover wedding gifts for the 1st one, and the November 1st checks would need to cover car insurance and start Christmas shopping, and December 1st would be Christmas . . .  Well, you get the picture.  On a last sweep, I went over to a section I hadn't looked at before because, from a distance, it seemed like the tops were all black.  But as I got closer, I saw it!!  Ooooh, it was perfect!  Technically, it's black and blue.  That combination didn't work with the navy on other tops, but, for whatever reason, it worked on this!  And it shimmered!  I just knew she'd love it and she did:

This is a jacket and shell set.

So we had our outfits.  My mother was delighted with her finds.  With our clothing in garment bags, I went to head back to the car, relieved the worst was over.  My mother looked exhausted, yet she sat through most of it!  But I took pity (on her or the other shoppers, take your pick) and took our stuff to the car (where I spent nearly five minutes trying to get the hanger hook down) and pulled the car to the sidewalk for her.  I really don't remember what we did after that.  Well, went home, of course, but after that, it's all a blur.

Next time:  It's all about the details.