The Vanna Dress and the Perfect Matching Shoes

Any of my regular readers know I am a bit of a shopaholic, yet, in recent years a more reformed one. I simply didn’t have time to do a lot of shopping in the last several years so I gradually tapered down. I have also donated more things than the average of five people!

Still, I find it very satisfying to hunt for treasures and bargains. I love designer clothes but only deeply discounted ones. (Never pay retail is my motto.) My husband knows because I show him tags, I have gotten loads of designer clothes at 90% off. That’s how over-inflated most pricing is, so you have to be patient, be willing to hunt and find that treasure.

I donate a lot of clothing that I no longer use, and I have lately sold some pricey things that were still in excellent condition on the neighborhood selling sites we have on Facebook. It is fun to see others excited and able to enjoy a piece that I loved as well. There have been several occasions where I sold something for more than I paid for it. People would never believe it, but it is true.

Getting back to the reason for this blog, I saw these blue and black shoes – a combination of color I happen to love, and I had to have them. They were designer shoes, well over $100 initially, and I found them for $15 at Ross. (PS another tip about Ross, if you go there at the end of summer, they have loads of Yellow Box sandals – my very favorite and the most comfortable flip flops with lots of sparkles- at a fraction of the price and lower even when they are on sale online.)

I like unique things and these were unique. I figured since they were sparkly black and blue embroidered, I would wear them with basic black for a little flair, so I justified the purchase, a small amount that it might be. (Because I do not need any more shoes, ever again.)

Then one night, I was flipping through channels and found Wheel of Fortune, which we watch if we are around at the time. Vanna had on a mesmerizing dress, extremely unique, and I could not stop staring at it. This is very unusual behavior for me. Other than the Oscars, I never covet what someone is wearing on television. I have never, ever wanted anything that Vanna was wearing. I barely even notice what she is wearing, though I should because she is turning 61 soon and close to my age, and though I am not model thin as she is, I can certainly learn from her style.

Yet the dress was so unique, I could not get it out of my mind and I had to have it. It was, yes, blue and black. It was a black lace dress with a fitted waist and a blue velvet double band, with sheer black lace short sleeves, and a two-foot wide swatch of blue lace at the bottom. It was also asymmetrical, which I absolutely love as that is always a unique look.

Now, I was sure that Vanna’s wardrobe, which usually features gowns, and this was a cocktail dress, was way out of my price range, but I had to hunt it down anyway to see.

It was so easy to find, which surprised me, but I am an expert researcher on the internet due to the writing I do.

Vanna’s dresses are featured on a page within the Wheel of Fortune website- every dress on every day. How easy is that? They tell the name of the designer and this one was Laundry by Shelli Segal, a name brand I have bought plenty of in the past. I figured it would be pricey, but affordable pricey.

I went to the designer’s website and had to look through pages and pages of dresses to find the design name for the one Vanna wore, but towards the end of the hunt, there it was, and I got the name of the style.

Next, I just had to Google the name of the style along with the designer’s name to find out where online it was being sold. The first thing that came up was Bloomingdales, (Notoriously high priced retail) and it was $300. I was not going to spend that but by now I really wanted the dress.

The next site was Lord and Taylor, and they were having a huge sale online that day. The dress had already been reduced by half, and with the additional online discount for that day’s sale, I spent less than $100 on it. (and free shipping) I was lucky to find my size as there were only a few sizes left. Phew!

Now where to wear my blue and black cocktail dress and matching shoes? I had an invitation to a wedding on a Sunday that asked for Cocktail Attire. PERFECT!

This is what it looked like on the web. Vanna wore it better. Please note that this model is tall so the hemline is higher for her. The hemline on my 5’7″ body is well below my knees. And my shoes are prettier than this model’s shoes.

Ok, here is the final product, me in the dress and shoes.