Something to Dwell Upon: Playing Dress Up In My Sister's Closet

I went back to Indianapolis last weekend to visit with my family and attend my 20 year high school reunion. A few days before the reunion, I learned that cocktail attire was required. Fortunately for me, my fashionable sister, Meri, and her husband, are staying with my parents while their house is under construction. Her extensive desiner wardrobe is now on display in almost every closet on the second floor of their house. When I explained my need for a nice cocktail dress, she threw open the doors of closet number one and whipped out seven for me to try on. I felt like what my daughter must have felt like at the Bibbi Bobbidi Boutique in Disney World (where she's tried on every princess gown in existence). I had my choice of designer gowns: Chanel, Rebecca Taylor, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Diane Von Furstenberg and a variety of others I'd seen on the pages of In Style Magazine. I debated between some flashy dresses - pink and white, silver, taupe, turquiose - but decided to play it safe by borrowing a little black dress. As I returned the other dresses to Meri, I asked her if there was anything she might want to consign to her older sister, mom of three, who doesn't have much time to shop, nor the eye for chic apparel. She was very agreeable to my proposal exclaiming that there were a number of items she'd seen on Net-A-Porter.com that she might like to buy. From that point on, every time I came up to my room I found shoes, tops, skirts and dresses laid out for me to try on. It felt like I had a personal shopper. Everything fit perfectly. I had a lot of fun playing dress up, though I'm not a big fan of high heels and could barely walk to the mirror to check out how her shoes looked on my feet. I ended up with four "new" dresses and two "new" tops in my suitcase. And Meri ended up with some extra cash to purchase her next installment of designer duds (which could be mine on consignment when I visit next summer - cha ching). Thanks Meri!