I thought about it over the weekend, and decided that my best bet (for my sanity, if not for my bank balance) in dealing with all of my current dress drama was just to go out and buy another dress.  That way, if the first shop surprises me and makes the dress like I wanted it, I’ll end up with the good problem of having two nice things to choose between, rather than having to scramble at the true last minute if it doesn’t work out well.  It took me a while to make up my mind about what to get — I didn’t want to go out and get something similar to what I’m having made:  then I could, potentially, end up with two dresses, neither of which I like very much.  This would pretty much defeat the purpose of having a “plan B dress”.

So, I decided I would get something entirely different than the dress that I’m having made, and I would make sure it was something I would be excited to wear.  The invitation to the ball we’re attending specifies that women should wear long gowns or “traditional national costumes”, which allows for people to wear what is customary for such an event in their home country (the IAEA is very nationally diverse) and also for people to wear traditional Austrian formal clothing.  I decided to get myself a dirndl.

I wasn’t sure it would be possible to get something on such short notice, especially with the difficulty I had finding an evening gown in my size.  I shouldn’t have worried.  I went in to the shop and timidly asked if it would be possible for them to find me something, and the saleswoman led me to a rack of clothes in my size, in a variety of colors and different fabrics and styles.  I had lots and lots to choose from — at first it was a little overwhelming, but then it just became a lot of fun.  I chose 4 dresses to try on — the first was a little small (although I think part of it was just that I needed to get used to how they fit), I didn’t love the color of the second, and I never even put the fourth one on.  I put the third one on and I was thrilled — it barely even needed alteration.  The style really suits me, I think.

My new dress (which is purple, green and black) will be ready on Friday.  Now I’m kind of hoping the first dress doesn’t work out — I’m so excited to wear the new one (which is exactly how I wanted to feel about it).  But, if it does, I guess I’ll just have to figure out which beautiful dress I want to wear.  That’s the kind of problem I’d prefer to have the day before the ball at the palace, rather than fretting over not knowing what to wear.