This Dress Will Change Everything

Sometimes, one new, perfect thing is all it takes to get you where you need to go.

- April Long

“Is it about the dress?”

The voice, emanating from the bunk bed below me, belonged to my friend Judy, with whom I was sharing a tiny one-room flat in London during our junior-year study-abroad program. It was the middle of the night, and I had hoped she wouldn’t hear me sniffling into my pillow.

Why was I crying? Well, I was homesick. I was hormonal. I was worried about final exams. But, yes, it was mostly about the dress.

Judy and I had spotted it at exactly the same time, fluttering on the end of an alfresco rail. It was black, subtly shiny, and sleeveless, with a slightly dropped waist above two tiers of gently flaring ruffles that ended just above the knee. We reached for it simultaneously; Judy’s hand touched it first. She held it up to her chest, taking its measure, and immediately pulled a crumpled 20-pound note out of her pocket to pay for it.