Staples

Investment Piece is a phrase that is thrown around far too frequently in my opinion. I find most items priced past $1,000 to be overly trendy unless they have the name Louis Vuitton or Chanel stamped on them. Okay, so maybe I'm making this demarcation to justify my lust for a certain pair of $995 boots, but they seem to be suffering from Never Go On Sale syndrome. The stores are basically giving everything else away in this economic climate. except for those boots. And the Chanel flats. Never ever the Chanel flats.

On my Thanksgiving trip home to Boston, my mother and I went to the mall and made our way through the Boston Barneys. After inciting the chuckles of one of the salespeople with my comments complaining about how the well-dressed male mannequins neither had the ability to come to life nor to be taken home with you, I went to the dressing room with two dresses in tow. Generally my trips to such stores involve lots of trying on without any purchasing. So it was with no expectations that I headed off with the Rozae Nichols and the Helmut Lang.

When I'm on the contemporary floor of any of the major luxury department stores, I often suffer a case of tunnel vision. Marc by Marc Jacobs. 3.1 Phillip Lim. Vena Cava. Milly. I have my favorites and rarely glance at the other brands. But for some unknown reason, I decided to branch out.

I first tried on the Helmut Lang dress.


I wasn't sure about it on the hanger, but it was marked down, and I believe in trying everything on. I haven't paid much attention to Helmut Lang since its relaunch as a contemporary brand, but I've been noticing increasing amounts of it everywhere. The above picture does the dress no justice. It was perfection on. I pranced out to have my mother zip the last bit up, and I stood in the mirror for several minutes mesmerized by how small it made me look and mulling how difficult it would be to watch it returned to the rack.

Rozae Nichols is a brand that I always breeze by in stores. But with my quest for a New Year's Eve party dress in the back of mind, I picked up this number with an eye toward that evening.


When I did a twirl in front of the mirror, I noticed a small rip in the back. Besides, I couldn't justify that price for something that would probably get someone's drink spilled on it at some point during the evening. That's what Forever 21 is for.

As I exited the dressing room, I handed over the Rozae Nichols. I decided to put the Helmut Lang back myself so that I could have a few moments with it before leaving. My mother came over to me and said Do you want it? I looked up at her, smiled and nodded.

It has already taken it's place next to The Dress in my closet. I imagine that it will soon be a favorite. Now the question is where will I wear it first.


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