Promenade Shopping

Last Saturday, I did 2 things I haven't done in a long time.

1) Go shopping with a 16 year old

2) Go shopping for a prom dress.

My cousin Shalini, who is finally free of her "0" level shackles, asked me to go prom dress shopping with her. I, of course, assumed this was because of my impeccable taste in clothes and indubitable "coolness" factor.

I forgot how 16 years shop.

To give you an idea of the ordeal, we started at 10:30 and didn't make a decision till 4 pm.

Naturally, the perfect outfit was not even at the place we decided to shop, but about 5 bus stops away.

Teenage girls are really finicky. They have these naturally stick-thin bodies that looks wonderful in anything. But of course they have to find the tiniest fault and blow it waay out of proportion. Some of the more choice ones I heard in the course of the day were

1) "I look short." Well, she is about 5 feet nothing. No surprises there.

2) "You can see the spots on my arms in this." A few tiny freckles.

3) "The front looks ok but the side makes my hips look big." What hips? I wonder how her jeans stay up.

4) "It's ok if I stand up, but when I sit, my stomach folds in." I totally don't get this one at all.

5) "It's a definite maybe. Put it on the KIV list." There's an oxymoron for you. There were 4 outfits on KIV.

Finally we decided on a dress. She looks like a tawny Greek Nymph in it. Beautiful. I will post pictures if she lets me.

Of course the dress is just the beginning. Now she has to do earrings, necklaces, shoes, bag, make up, nails, hair and 'tude. She has already decided she is going to eat nothing but tofu and salad till this Thursday, and in case that doesn't work, jog 5 km every night.

Do guys go through even half of this for their prom preparations? Do tell guys, I am dying to know.