so its humid…. not just humid like how toronto gets icky in the summer pollution humid. i mean you feel like you need your bathing suit as you open your door letting the blissful a/c air out, and hitting that wall of moistness. (and for people who have a problem with a/c adding to humidity, that’s another discussion for another blog). nothing drives initiative like necessity, and in my two suitcases brought across the ocean finding that balance of warm, cool, clothing and shoes (both casual and dressy, and down time) didn’t allow for much wiggle room for either climate condition. however, i have wonderfully landed in the land of tailors, vietnam! seemingly commercial stores even have their singer set in the back of the store waiting and itching to make you a perfect fit. this comes in handy when the average size of the population is less than cozy with a larger, more minority nation based body as is mine.
but back to the humidity. i need dresses, because the idea of even leggings right now is not funny. i discussed last nite via skype with dear chels and humble millie and asked for some websites where i can browse some photos of dresses. some crazy great ones are out there, and i spent the next hour of our chat sending them new pics of ones i really liked. this morning i was eager to show my interpreter the dresses i need (and really i do) to have made. the first two are:
Dress 1 Inspiration - Modcloth's 'People Watching Frock'
Dress 2 Inspiration - Modcloth's 'Front of the Line Dress'
now finding the right fabric prints and material proved to be more challenging than i thought. the words from millie about going for natural fibers seemed to be a battle i wouldnt win among the piles of beautiful, but lets face it, fake, cloth. standing i was comparing some fabric when i felt a poke at my arm. yes, it was the sales lady prodding my arm giggles. since i cant say ‘well at least im healthy and happy’ in vietnamese, i simply smiled. that reminded me, i needed to make sure i bought enough fabric.
i stumbled on a pink polka dot, that even though i dont normally ‘do’ dots, i really loved. my first thought was ‘oo, bottom for the front of the line dress!” when i couldnt match the right fabric for the top i ditched that plan and decided it was my new print for the ‘people watching frock’ great, one dress done, another to go! i let my interpreter know that i would take that one, and they began to cut it up and insisting that i only needed two meters, that even that was too much. i kept trying to emphasize that i have more curves the the average lovely lady here, so better to play on the safe side. but they stood by their ground and i decided to trust the sewing ladies rather than my bodily perception. but in a few days this fabric will be for me a lovely dress (i am so lucky!)
Polka Dot Fabric for Dress 1
happy to have found one, but a little disappointed i deemed that i just couldn’t find the right combination for the “front of the line dress.” so i gave up and said i would try another store tomorrow. as i was putting on my helmet getting ready to saddle up on my interpreters motorbike, i can see her looking all around, under the motorbike, feeling her pockets. then i realized, she lost the keys. we spent the next 2o mins shifting through the different piles and mounds of fabric we were looking at just hoping we would find them. talk about needle in a hay stack! but perhaps this minor set back was put in place by the fashion goddesses, because as i lifted up one pile i saw it…. no not the keys, the bottom fabric for the second dress! it was green, it was touch of yellow, it was something i would not normally go for, but just like the divine motive that made us look for the keys, i was drawn to it mysteriously. turning to my left, hurrah! the top fabric! perfect, perfect perfect. the combination it felt like me, somehow, and thats the joy of tailoring your clothes am i right? i tried to share my sympathies for the lost keys, and wondered if it was inappropriate to ask my interpreter to ask them to cut me some more fabric as she desperately searched around for those small little silver pieces of wonders. but a second hurrah! she found the keys! saving us a motorbike push to the office, and allowing me to swoop in with my request.
Fabric for Dress 2
the best part, aside from the low price, was the fact that both fabrics fit into a small little bag…..small bag? say hello to lightweight, easy, yet still dressy packing! gorgeous and practical, this can turn out pretty good…
tomorrow i visit the tailor. will the dresses work out? will the lines be flattering, the fabric heat relieving, and will it all come out in two neat little packages? stay tuned my friends…. and wish me luck 
I’m interested to see what they look like.