Dress for Success: Fail!

First off, I'm way behind in my Blip journal, as I just returned yesterday from two wonderful weeks in the US. I will catch up on back blips this weekend. But now I need to document today's disaster!

It was a monumental day for me. I was super excited to start a new job, working full-time as a marketing communications specialist at a global firm. I chose to wear a dress that I had just purchased in the States: professional, yet casual for a Friday, and cool enough to endure the extreme heat in our unairconditioned office.

What I didn't reckon with was the added ventilation provided shortly after lunch. At some point mid-afternoon, I felt a bit chill in my derrière. Reaching back to smooth my skirt, I realized the center seam had come unraveled. There was a gaping hole revealing precious assets! OMG (a term I despise, but I'm left a bit speechless here!)

For the rest of the afternoon, I tried my best to remain firmly planted in the protective cover of my office chair. Several times my office colleague wanted me to convene at her desk to discuss work on her computer, and I awkwardly shuffled my chair around to her side of the room, ensuring my back remained to the wall. Quite relieved once she left for the day, I was resolved to remain seated until everyone left the building. Unfortunately, there was a brief moment when I needed to shut a window and another colleague happened by.... not sure what he may have been exposed to, by this time, the entire dress was split open from waist to knee :(

After 2 more hours I really needed to escape to the ladies' room and decided it was my only chance to salvage an insanely bad situation. My office has a full glass-panel door and wall of windows, offering zero privacy. Hence I grabbed the canvas tote bag that HR had presented to me in the morning, dumped its contents into a desk drawer, tucked the bag into the back of my belt, and stealthily ran down the hall to the restroom. There I quickly locked myself into a stall, removed the d@#%ed dress, and stitched up the back with an emergency sewing kit I happened to have stashed in my purse from last week's hotel visit. For good measure, I added three safety pins!!

Major. Wardrobe. Malfunction. Completely redefining the expression "dress for success" - I can only imagine the kind of success I'll have in this position!

As one friend suggested today: it can only get better from here :)