Welcome back to part III of our Mother of the Bride’s tale, a tale that has so far seen her marched around the Palmarian shops and ordered to try on dresses by her newly (and accidentally) acquired personal fashion consultant! After meeting the feisty Evelyn in church, it’s been something of a whirlwind for Kathryn as she’s whisked from shop to shop trying on more dresses than she normally would in a year! But, with the dress for the wedding now in toe there was no time for rest, there was a hat to find…
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The human dynamo hurled herself towards the hat section and swiftly spun around with a flat tangerine shaped disc. She quickly punched her hand into the centre and as if by magic a charming hat appeared before my very eyes. It was practically bounced upon my head with the immediate accompanying words of “wrong colour, wrong shape, what else have we got?” Hat after hat flew on and off my head in quick succession and, as I stood there, I too cast my eye along the shelving.
Becoming almost oblivious to the never ending cycle of headwear bouncing on and off my head continuously my eyes were drawn along the shelf to a particular hat. Tentatively I suggested it to Evelyne who nodded with approval with the words “ah I think you might be getting the hang of this!” Off it came and was placed upon my head. It was the sort of hat that you can manipulate any way you wish, customise it to any style you prefer. “Yes that’s the one!” Evelyn proclaimed , an air of unquestioning authority in her voice. As I turned towards the mirror I had to agree, it certainly suited me. I paraded up and down under the beady eye of Evelyne and realised I really did feel comfortable in these clothes and not just because the fierce Evelyne approved of them!
Suddenly Evelyne dashed out of the shop and was away and back before we even had time to discuss where she might have gone. In her hands she held a pair of shoes, “Put these on, they’re not quite right but they will do until we find some others”. I walked up and down and up and down again, posing when told to and being occasionally rearranged by Evelyne. “Ok let’s see if you can sit down correctly” she said, seemingly exasperated. I copied her pose and suddenly Evelyne was even more exasperated… “How can you do that so easily when it’s the hardest pose?!” There was no answer to that but I couldn’t help a slightly smug smile from forming in the corner of my mouth. She took the shoes back and then even negotiated down the price with the slightly terrified shop assistant.
I was more than happy with the choice and frankly shopping for the outfit could not have been more entertaining! Evelyne was amazing at finding what would suit me and I’m not sure I could have done it without her as I obviously didn’t know what colours suited me at all! After looking at all the seasonal colour style collections a little this was confirmed as whilst walking out of the shop, I said to my brilliant personal shopper, “So I’m Autumn then?” The look said it all as she said one word back in return, “Spring!”
We all hurried to the shoe shop and racks of gorgeous shoes lined the cabinets. Evelyne discussed options with the owner whilst I was despatched to the Ladies to put my outfit on as I was firmly told “we could not possibly match anything unless that happened”. I emerged to a range of shoes all neatly lined up and waiting to be tried by…me! For someone who rarely shops for clothes at all this day really was proving surreal! Immediately I had my beady eye on one particular shoe but that one was further down the line so would have to wait it’s turn.
On, walk up, walk down, off and begin again. Once whilst I was walking up Peter happened to walk in front of me whilst looking at a pair of shoes he was trying on to stave off boredom. “Peter! I am working, you are in my way.” The shoes I had my eye on were nearing ever closer and then it was their turn. They were a size 39 instead of a 38 but with an extra hole punched in and shoe liners inserted, it was a done deal. I breathed a sigh of relief, we were finished at last. My outfit was complete, thanks to Evelyne. It was surely time to relax and Cafe Rami and a hot cup of tea were calling me. My hopes were dashed as she swung round to face Peter… “Now it’s your turn!”
