Cupcakes!

No I am not referring to real cupcakes, but cupcake dresses!  If you read my post about A Vintage Affair, you know that I am furiously reading through the book so I thought I'd give my book a little face time.  First off this novel is loaded with supplementary stories to support the main plot of Phoebe opening her vintage store.  Phoebe encounters new friends, new men, as well as the shoppers who come through her store.  My favorite people she meets are the ones who come in and fall in love with the cupcake dresses.  The cupcakes are reminiscent of 50s prom dresses and poodle skirts.  Not to mention that look is a huge trend this year as seen in Louis Vuitton.  Love it.

   

I had this mental picture in my mind of what these cupcake dresses look like and the tan dress shown above portrays it the best.  I pictured a skirt that went a little past the knee, a sweetheart neck, and a full but not too over the top skirt.  The dresses came in turquoise, lime green, yellow, and pink.  As I was reading I felt the colors not only complemented  the ladies' physical features but also their personalities. 

The turquoise dress met its match with a loving bride to be.  She comes in with her husband and immediately falls in love with the garment while searching for a party dress.  Despite her love, she cannot afford it and is forced to leave empty handed (worst situation in fashion, sad face.)  Her husband rushes back the morning of the party and buys the dress for her, saying she had to have it and if she is happy then that is all he wants for his bride.  I felt this dress was a perfect match for her because the bright blue really made her pop with her dirty blonde hair and she so clearly loved the dress.  I loved that her husband went back and bought it for her.  Two loves woven perfectly together!

The lime green cupcake found its home with a feisty redhead who originally purchased another, not nearly as fab, dress.  She came into the shop with her crackberry using husband.  She has such presence as she looks for a dress for her fiance's business dinner.  She is truly a whirlwind.  Her husband forces her in to a drab black number that doesn't nearly compliment her personality and off she goes to the dinner.  Ah, but that would be a horrible end to a story about cupcakes.  The redhead returns with the exact amount to purchase the lime green dress.  Turns out she ratted her husband out to a newspaper that he was involved in a criminal act involving fire.  And all she demanded in return was the same amount of money to purchase the dress.  Crime for fashion much?

The next shopper is much younger than these ladies in their 20s.  A young school girl looking for a dress for her dance falls in love with the yellow dress, so much so that she vows to save her money over the next three months to buy it.  Phoebe doesn't put the dress on hold, until five other shoppers tried on the dress.  Every time the yellow cupcake was tried on Phoebe cringed inside so she put it to rest and reserved it.  I have yet to find out if the young lady is able to buy the dress, but I know I'm rooting for her.  (Mostly because I've been there and stressed about that!)

Finally we have the pink cupcake, which I think is my favorite story because for me it was the most relatable.  A woman comes into the shop on a shopping mission, and we all know what that is like.  Phoebe asks the occasion and the woman goes on to explains that her and husband have been trying to have children and after the sixth time of trying via drugs she was unable to get pregnant.  Needless to say that's upsetting beyond comprehension. So she does what any other woman would do, shops it out.  This is exactly what I do when I'm upset because when you're feeling sad all you have to do is look at the pretty cupcake dress or whatever the purchase may be.  Helps to turn that frown upside down!

More to come as I finish up this novel.  So sad to see it end, but so excited to see the outcome!