Shopping for a dress can be the most exciting and most frustrating part of an upcoming event. You may not always find time to run down to the mall, and the stores around you may not always have what you want in stock. Then there’s online shopping; where there’s an endless selection of dresses. But when it arrives and it ends up not being exactly what you wanted, it can be a pain sending it back. I’ve asked some of my friends how they do their dress shopping and a good majority of them choose to browse online, even if they have to go through the painstaking process of sending dress after dress back if they don’t approve of how it looks.

“Isn’t all that a little unnecessary?” I would ask and they’d shrug and tell me that it’s a bit annoying, but the best dresses can be found online.

I beg to differ, and prefer to do my dress shopping in person. And so on Sunday, I dragged my mother out of bed and begged her to bring me to the nearest mall, to which she reluctantly agreed. And off hunting for my prom dress we went.

Naturally, upon arriving, I headed straight for Macy’s where I had gotten my dress for Snowball. Unsurprisingly, the dress section was packed with others searching early for a prom dress, and a good portion of time was spent squeezing through the crowd and muttering apologies. Luckily, I came out of the skirmish unscathed and with my arms full of different colored dresses. And with that, I stepped into the fitting room.

Ten minutes later, I was huffing in frustration as I threw yet another dress into the nope pile. Which consisted of all the other dresses I had picked out and decided they didn’t fit my style. I sighed heavily, throwing a look that said “I am so done” at my mother.

“There were a few nice ones I liked. I don’t know why you threw them back,” my mother pointed out the pieces of discarded clothing. I shook my head. Yes, she may have liked them. But I, myself, didn’t approve of how they looked. I was the one who was going to be wearing the dress, after all. I might as well feel comfortable and beautiful in it.

“Well,” she sighed, beginning to share my frustration, “let’s look in other stores.”

Store after store, dress after dress. Our luck was running dry until I caught a glimpse of something sparkling out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head and my attention landed on a dress shop. An actual dress shop across from the mall that I never even knew existed. I had visited this mall dozens of times before and had never noticed it. Well, I suppose I’ll use the excuse that it was tucked in the back of a building next to stores I had never been interested in before. I pulled my mother towards the store, my eyes roaming over the different colors, patterns, and glitter that covered the rows of elegant gowns. I dove right in. And in seconds, actual seconds, I had picked out a simple black and silver dress. I immediately fell in love with it, and my opinion remained unchanged after I tried it on.

“This one?” I asked my mother, who was standing at the corner of the room, having collected a heaping mound of other dresses she wished for me to try on. She looked me up and down, raised an eyebrow before shaking her head disapprovingly and handing me the pile. Just to satisfy her, I ended up trying on each and every gown she handed me. But of course, my mind was still dead set on the black and silver one hanging on the door. I passed back all of the dresses and slipped into my favorite one again, walking out for my mother to see.

“I like this one the best. Can we get it?” I asked sweetly. She narrowed her eyes at me, knowing full well that I was too stubborn to let it go.

“Fine,” she said in defeat. I grinned and turned back into the room to change out of the dress so we could pay for it.

Yes, the day was rough and almost lost to an unsuccessful shopping experience. But, we ended the long hours of searching and came out with a perfect dress. Dress shopping is a struggle, but it’s always worth the effort and you’ll soon be walking into that special event looking and feeling phenomenal as you own the floor.