This weekend, I went on a dress quest.

I'll be helping the Advertiser with its Inauguration coverage in D.C. next week. That includes not only the swearing-in ceremony, which will involve standing out in the cold for as long as 7 hours, but also the various Hawaii-related inaugural balls happening from Jan. 18 through inauguration night.

At first, I thought reporting back to Hawaii in below-30-degree weather, facing the possibility of a failing laptop battery and possibly encountering faulty cellphone service was going to be the hardest part. Then, I realized that the far greater challenge would be -- aaaah! -- finding something to wear to the balls.

Okay, so I know girls say this all the time, but I literally had nothing to wear. Most of the events I'm going to list the attire as "Black Tie," or worse, "Elegant Aloha." Translation? Does that mean I can wear my high school graduation dress?

Being clueless on ball attire-speak, I'm playing it safe. I consider "formal" in D.C. to be the formal-est of the formal and I had not even one long dress in my closet. There were my dresses from junior and senior prom, but one of them is dotted with spots of mold, the other is a brilliant shade of pink-orange-fuschia that I don't wish to repeat anytime in the near future.

I'm also on a budget. At first, I went to Ross. Then, Nordstrom Rack. I decided to keep looking. I went to Macy's, where I tried on two long dresses (below).

They were nice dresses which I suspect were left over from winter formal season, and they were marked down -- but only to about $100. I didn't want to pay that much for a dress I only sort of liked and would only wear once.

Then, I tried The Clothes Chick, on King Street near the old McCully Chop Suey, and suddenly discovered the beauty of consignment shops.

The Clothes Chick is a small, nicely decorated shop that offers second-hand clothing, shoes, and accessories, including many designer brands, at much-reduced prices. The store's owner, Susan Reaver, who also paints her own furniture in lovely shades of purple and green, said she has had at least a half dozen people come in looking for inaugural ball dresses in recent weeks. She was very helpful, and walked around the store pulling out possible selections for me to try on.

I did try on several dresses, including this funky purple one (I like purple), which I was told originally cost hundreds of dollars at Nordstrom (I believe it).

I liked it, but unfortunately, it would have required a lot of alterations (too big), and it was still a little expensive ($150). Still too much for a grad student on a budget.

The store had several other really nice long dresses, some as inexpensive as $40. All their jewelry pieces were also 50-percent-off, so I picked up this jeweled cuff for $12.

On the dress, though, I decided to keep looking.

My next stop was The Ultimate You in Hee Hing Plaza on Kapahulu Avenue.

The Ultimate You has all kinds of "like new" clothing, shoes, bags and jewelry and many designer brands at lower prices. I spotted many shorter party dresses (in the range of $20 to $90) that would originally sell for much more than that in stores like Ann Taylor, White House Black Market and BCBG.

Still, I was looking for a long dress. Finally, we spotted one hanging above the cashier (the "grape"-colored one, of course).

I tried it on. It fit. It was purple. It was perfect!

I would have better photos for you, but unfortunately, the dress is currently at the tailor shop. I hope to get it back by Wednesday. The owner of Ultimate You, Kelsey Sears, was also quite helpful with tips for inaugural wear ("No one cares what you're wearing from the waist down...").

She even pulled up a Washington Post article for me that she had read earlier.

I guess I might have to wear something different for the balls other nights, so I'm seeing what I can borrow from friends. I can't spend another day roaming Honolulu -- it's exhausting and expensive. And I haven't even thought yet about shoes...

If you're going to be attending any Inaugural balls, I'd highly recommend checking out Honolulu's consignment stores in addition to the department stores. You can find beautiful, gently-used or "tags-still-on" dresses at much-reduced prices, and stock up on jewelry and other accessories.

By the end of my shopping adventure, I still have no idea what "Elegant Aloha" means. But hopefully the dress I've found will do the trick.

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The Clothes Chick
2013 South King Street
Mon - Sat, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(808) 942-2442

The Ultimate You
Hee Hing Plaza
449 Kapahulu Avenue
Thurs, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m., Fri - Sat, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
(808) 734-7724

Tags: fashion, Hawaii, inauguration, money

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 12:48 pm and is filed under fashion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.