She was alone at the hotel bar, and she was smoking, neither of which I think she'd ever done before. She didn't smoke alone, and she didn't sit at hotel bars. And she was drinking, too. Smoking without a cigarette holder, smoking the bar cigarettes and not her own, drinking straight gin and not martinis. Her silver minaudire was open in her lap, and she kept looking at the scrap of paper sticking out of it. It said "Ambassador Hotel, 7:30."
It was 7:35 now.
From where we were we could see the front entrance of the hotel, and she didn't take her eyes from it. Even so, I saw him first, and then I knew why we were there, alone.
Five strides, her heels striking hard on the floor. The drink in his face, followed by the glass smashing on the floor.
"Don't come home tonight," she said. He looked green. "I'm changing the locks. The lawyers will call you in the morning." A look at the floozy on his arm–definitely a floozy, in a lamé dress and a bad wave. "He doesn't have any money, you know. It's all mine. Bad luck for you."
The bartender had her bag and a sympathetic look. "That last drink was on the house," he said, and she almost smiled.
The driver was waiting. He steadfastly pretended she wasn't crying. "Home, ma'am?"
When we got home, the maid took me from her and I was brushed and aired, because I smelled terribly of smoke.
A Dress A Day 
Thank you.Wonderful dress, too.
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But wait there’s more.My friend, the matching cocktail hat in the same fabric, was tossed on the floor. The maid’s heel got caught in the veiling and she nearly fell. Cursing, she picked up my poor friend, dusted her off, and examined the tear in the fabric. She sighed, and pulled out the hatbox from the top of the closet. Hastily buried my friend in the bottom of the pile of chapeaux already there. She fervently hoped the missus wouldn’t notice what happened to her favorite topper.
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Scene: Fashion salon dressing room. Mrs. Steven Haynes (Mary), dressed in tasteful off-the-shoulder black tulle ball gown, confronts her husband’s mistress, Crystal Allen, dressed in gold lame draped dress and matching turban.MARY: May I suggest if you’re dressing to please Stephen, not that one. He doesn’t like anything so obvious.CRYSTAL: Thanks for the tip. But when anything I wear doesn’t please Stephen, I take it off!Mary exits right.
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Oh, that dress! And oh, that entire site full of dresses! But oh, the prices…
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I love this. I keep coming back and reading and reading it. I love all the “secret lives of dresses”, but this one most of all.I can’t wait for more.
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Fabulous story, fabulous dress.
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I think I’m going to start throwing my drinks in men’s faces, lol
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I wore this dress (in black velvet) to my senior prom in 1992. It was rented from a vintage costume shop.
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This is definitely the dress I would choose to wear when confronting a lying cheater and his floozy.Who could look anything but dignified, elegant, and awesome as hell in this?He needs to get an eyeful of what he’s lost, and she needs to know she’ll never measure up.She’s far better off without him. So is the dress.
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I love, love, love, did I say love, these Secret Dress stories. She and the dress are fare better off without him. Now its my humble opinion ladies, but dont all men look better after they have had their faces washed? And I happen to be unfortunately male. Yuk!The dresses are all so pretty, I wish I owned them all. I envy all of you who enjoy them …sighKeep up the epilogues girls, they are great!Girlyboy.
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I am in love with the writer of these dress stories. It is also interesting how others would picture the scene with such a fantastic dress on thier bodies. But the original should not be changed in print because it is the dress that speaks to our hearts and minds and puts us in the moment. It is the dresses that removes up from our time and into a time somewhere in history.
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Ahhh I see that the Secret Lives of Dresses IS in print and can be purchased at Amazon.com.
Whew! I thought this was being missed by publishers.
Every woman in the world should be reading this book. A cup of tea (coffee, wine or even bourbon) some where alone, resting in the quiet. Just to be engulfed in the Dress stories. It would be like a piece of expensive chocolate that you saved your diet calories for and now can savor slowly and in private for the utmost enjoyment.
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I found this site and it’s like opening a treasure box! Whoo hoo!!
I love vintage, tasteful, elegant dresses. There is just something special about each one.
Thanks and I’ll be watching for more.
Janet
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