Finding the perfect prom dress was harder than I expected.  
I’d already bought a dress from Macy’s, thinking it would be great  for the Junior Prom. It was a strapless black and white dress that fell just above my knees. When I saw this dress, I thought: “This is it.”

Until I found out that most of the juniors were planning to wear long dresses.

Then, I began to seriously think about the dress.

After much consideration and persuasion from my mom, I decided it wasn’t the one. It didn’t flatter my body and I didn’t feel confident. I returned the dress days later.

Dressless and determined, I went to Ala Moana in search of “the one.” I went to Macy’s and tried on a few dresses but none had the “enchanting” feel.

I continued my search in Nordstrom, wandering the aisles and scrutinizing every shelf for “the dress.” I found nothing.  

Next stop was Bloomingdale’s. A new store in Ala Moana, Bloomingdale’s had a variety of colors, silhouettes and lengths. I saw a few I liked, but I wanted to stay true to the black and white theme.

By the time my mom and I left Ala Moana, we were skeptical about finding the dress I wanted. The last resort was Pearlridge Macy’s.

We went to the junior section of Macy’s on the first floor. I went to the area that had black dresses and immediately knew from the cut outs and tight fabric that my chances of finding a dress were slim.

However, when I looked at the white section, I saw dresses that were close to my ideal silhouette. When I tried them on, I knew that one of the dresses was “The Dress.”
It came down to two dresses. One had a white bust and black from the waist down. There were small teardrop shapes cut into the fabric that gathered around my neck. The second dress had black straps that created a heart-shape figure in the bust area with white fabric falling to my feet.

When I put on the second dress, I was shocked. It was the EXACT same dress I had tried on at Ala Moana Macy’s.

It was clear that this was “the one.” I bought it without a second thought and walked out of Macy’s with a smile on my face.

Looking for a dress that ended up being the first dress I had tried on was pretty frustrating. If I’d waited and thought about it, I wouldn’t have gone to so many places.

I learned an important lesson about dress shopping: Give it a few moments before saying no. It’ll save a lot of time.