Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Magic Dress.



Do any of you have that dress? The dress that defined a moment in time, changed your life forever? I do, and I owe it all to Betsey Johnson. In honor of her 30th anniversary I want to share my story. 
It had been my dream to work for Betsey Johnson since I discovered who she was. Finally, a designer that validated my wacked out crazy sense of style, I no longer felt alone in this world. While living in Nashville I applied for a position at her store and got hired, but had to turn it down because another job opened up first elsewhere. You can only imagine how upset I was, nevertheless, I had a feeling I would somehow work for her again. When I moved to New York, I began my styling career. Boy, was that tough. A sea of endless pulls and returns, unpaid and slowly paid gigs, I was ready to call it quits when I received an invitation in the mail (one of the perks of being a stylist) to attend Betsey Johnson's Samsung cell phone launch at her Soho store, where she would be in attendance. I was elated, yet worried all week about what I was going to wear. I knew the giant party dresses were going to be everywhere, so of course I had to find something that nobody would be wearing. I ended up going to Loehman's the night before and scoured the sale rack....voila...there it was the perfect Betsey Johnson cutout wiggle dress, and it was on SALE!!
So I got my getup in gear, and headed out the door with my lovely makeup artist cohort Kaysie.
When I walked in the door, it was just as I had expected, a swarm of gorgeous ladies wearing crinoline party dresses and glittery shoes. It was truly fabulous!!! As I settled into myself I grabbed a champagne (Betsey's favorite).  Moments later, I heard a shriek from across the room. When, I turned around I was shocked to see it was coming from Betsey herself and it was directed towards me.  She asked me "Where did you get that dress?" "Is it one of mine?"  In total shock I said "Yes, it is one of yours" and I quieted my voice "I found it at Loehman's for $55" Delighted she replied "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it, the last time I saw that dress was when Susan Sarandon was dancing with David Bowie at the Cha Cha lounge." Then just as I was regaining my composure, she announced to the entire party. "Look at this ladies dress, this is the first dress I ever designed, and she found it at Loehman's for $55. Not having remembered that they re-cut it for a past run, she  then told her assistant to send an intern in the morning and grab the rest of them off the rack. (she then re-cut it for her fall 08 anniversary collection see left)
The next thing  I knew I was approached by the lovely manager of the Soho store and asked me if I was interested in a position with the company, by request of Betsey Johnson. Of course it was an offer I could not refuse, so I was hired on the spot. I finally got my job at Betsey Johnson where I served two fantastic years with the best crew of girls who will remain my best friends for LIFE!!!!
Trust me when I tell you once a Betsey girl, always a Betsey girl!!!
Please join the lovely Nashville ladies in celebration of Betsey's 30th anniversary
Where:Green Hills Mall
When:Thursday, Aug 7th

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is so dreamy!!!

Anonymous said...

best story ever! wow wow