Getting an F in dressing 101

Yesterday, I had a client meeting that started at 9:30 in the morning. That doesn't sound too bad, except it is about a two-and-a-half hour drive away and many of the roads there are under construction. So I decided to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. to give myself extra time.

Of course, I couldn't get to sleep for what seemed like forever. Lying there in the dark trying to coax myself into Dreamland, I thought about all the things I should bring, worried about getting lost and of course, thought about what to wear to my big meeting.

In the morning, groggy but anxious for the drive, I selected a black sheath dress with a low slung built-in "belt" that fastens off to one side. As I started dressing, Loaf began crying, so I quickly slipped the dress over my head, zipped it up the side and hurried to her room. Mark was already there, so I returned to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Makeup done, hair styled, water and snack packed, I walked out the front door. The traffic was minimal and I arrived early, so I sat in my car reviewing notes and listening to NPR for a while. Walking into the conference room, I moved to clip the "Visitor" nametag on my belt. Except, something was off. Instead of being on the front left hip, it was on the back right. What the . . . ?

As subtlety as possible, I reached up to the neckline and ran my fingers around the top of the dress. Yep, you guessed it. The tag was in the front. In my hurry to get dressed, I put the dress on backwards. Doh.

Fortunately, it's a nice dress. It's fully lined, so there weren't any seams in the front that would reveal the tag's stitching. Further, I was in a roomful of men, and we all know how observant they are when it comes to women's clothing. But funny how the tag didn't bother me at all on my three-hour drive, but as soon as I was aware of it, it picked and scratched at the front of my neck the entire meeting. I guess that's what you get for not paying attention to what you're doing.