T his time it was my turn, last year Sharon and I wore outfits out that were similar for our annual Christmas shopping trip, and Sharon chose the more casual fashions, and now this year it was my turn, and I decided on business formal, rather than the casual attire. Last year I wore a jean skirt, a turtleneck and vest, and she wore jeans, a blouse and vest. But this year she allowed me to make the decision on clothing.

So with the ground rules set, I started to plan what I was going to wear, and could not really come up with the look I had in my mind. I was definitely going to be wearing a skirt, and possibly darker more "formal" pantyhose, but other than that I was not sure. I toyed with the idea of a new longer skirt, with a large slit and a red silk blouse, but did not think that was the look I was really going for. As well, I thought of my knee length black leather skirt, black blouse and red blazer, but I had already worn that out once for an occasion. So I decided to get Sharon involved to help with my decision, and we planned an evening were I basically would put on a "fashion show" with her looking over my choices and come up with a final ensemble for the shopping trip.

The Friday before our shopping date, we decided to get together to choose what I was going to wear, and her as well, depending on what I was in. So I met Sharon wearing my house coat, and simply in bra, panties and nude nylons and started to bring out clothes, and she said, "better show me what you are planning on wearing, so I can see the whole look".

So I started with the long, calf length, A-line black skirt, and red silk blouse, 3" black heels, nude pantyhose, to which Sharon had to smile and say, "my Jennifer, turning a new leaf?, I would never have thought of you in a skirt THAT long". I laughed as well, and told her that I had some other outfits, and she asked me to show them to her before she made up her mind. The next outfit was the same skirt, heels, along with an angora sweater, red and black, with "fuzzy" material on it, Sharon looked it over and said, "no, too 'fuzzy'". Next came my long black leather skirt, black silk blouse, red jacket and 3" heels. Sharon nodded her head when she saw me and said, "I like it", but when I inquired about possibly my shorter leather skirt, she looked me over again and suggested that I grab one of my "kilts". She picked my green and black one and see how that would look instead of the leather skirt. When I showed it to her, she said, "perfect, short like you want, but professional and business, with darker hose, it will look perfect". So it was decided and we sat and talked about what she would wear and decided to help her with her wardrobe in a week on the actual day. One last things I asked Sharon's advice about was my heels, the question was not the height as it was going to be 3". I had the choice of my "standard" black kid leather heels, or more special 3" black suede heels, and Sharon suggested that if the weather was nice, why not wear the suede heels as it would make the outfit all that more special.

I always look forward to the Christmas shopping trips and this one was no different, as it was going to be the closest to Christmas we had ever gone, and all the Christmas decorations and more importantly, all the glamorous dresses and fashions would be out for the Holiday Season. I decided to make a list of exactly what I was going to be shopping for and decided on this list:

1) Gold dangly earrings.
2) A new Panty girdle.
3) Possibly a holiday dress (as if I needed another).
4) Sharon's Christmas present, "keepers" for her earrings.
5) New Panties.

So with the list set, the day of the shopping trip arrived and I got up and started getting ready for the trip. After a long hot shower, I slipped into my pink satin makeup coat and started getting all of my clothes out of the closet and laid them out on my bed, my skirt, blouse, jacket, jewelry for the day which was a strand of 18" pearls, long dangly gold earrings. As well, I grabbed my purse for the day, both my "regular" and suede work height high heels (3") and laid them out as well, I would make the final decision when I was dressed and ready to go.

Sharon joined me in getting ready dressing and putting on her makeup, and I asked her if we would be wearing the same pantyhose shade, and she said, "if you want, but you will have to lend me a pair", and I told her that was not a problem and gave her a matching pair to mine, ultra sheer black hose, perfect for business formal attire. I then asked Sharon what she was going to be wearing and she informed me that it would be a black skirt, white blouse a vest, and the matching black sheer pantyhose.

I carried on and starting getting dressed for the day, I started with a very old (clean) pair of red lace and satin panties, a gift from an old girlfriend, my new crisp white lace bra, and then I put on a pair of satin gloves to put on my sheer black pantyhose. I slid them up my legs and loved the way they looked on my legs, so silky and smooth. I then slipped into a pair of low 2 ½ pair of heels so that I would not ruin my hose and made my way to the bathroom to put on my makeup.

Colour selection of the my makeup was my "standard" business colours, dark purple on the lower lids, light pink on the top, with a thin brush of eyeliner, perfect for daywear, mascara and my eyes were all set. Then light pink blush on my cheeks, and my light pinkish red lipstick completed the look. After I was done looked in the mirror and thought, "perfect, just right for the office".

I then moved to the bed and started getting into my outfit for the day, but before I place any clothes on, applied a healthy dose of Halston's perfume on my wrists and behind my ears. I then slipped into the black blouse, kilt, and finally my jacket. To complete the look I slipped on a gold anklet, 18" strand of pearls, and some long gold dangly earrings. I looked myself over in the mirror and found the perfect sexy look for the office staring back at me. Now the shoe decision, I put on my black kid leather pumps and since the weather was nice, I decided to complete the whole look with my 3" black suede heels, and I was done getting dressed.

Sharon was finishing getting ready, so I decided to make sure my purse was packed and ready to go and grabbed my coat just in time to meet Sharon to leave. Sharon looked me over and nodded in approval, "very nice, ready to go?", she asked, and I certainly was!.

I grabbed my long spring coat and slipped it on, as the weather this year was very mild, and Sharon did the same and we left the house and got into the van to go to the mall, Square One.

Sharon and I got lucky at finding a parking spot and headed into our usual entrance to the mall, The Bay and decided to part ways at that point and meet at our usual place in 90 minutes, which I was soon to find went by VERY quickly. Before we separated, Sharon and I headed to the washroom as we both needed to use one and once inside we did our business and met at the makeup mirror. After fixing my hair which had got blown around by the wind, we left together and then finally went our separate ways for Christmas shopping.

I had a plan on where I was going to go and after seeing Sharon go in one direction, I headed in the other. First stop was at a jewelry shop that I always stop at, as they usually have a good selection of clip on earrings, that are long and dangly, the style I love to wear. I took my time looking, and found that the selection of long gold dangly earrings were not as available as years gone by and found that the selection was nil and proceeded to look for Sharon's Christmas present and was having trouble finding exactly what I was looking for. When the sales girl was free came over and asked what I was looking for and started to look around the store for exactly what Sharon was asking for and eventually we found a set that included numerous pairs and I decided to go for them.

After exchanging small talk with the sales girl, she finalized the sale by saying, "have a Merry Christmas", and reciprocated the comment and left the store, continuing to walk around the concourse, window shopping and such. The next store I came to was Sears and decided to head right for the lingerie department to find a girdle that was a little more firm than the one I bought back in September, and decided to interact more with the sales help. I started browsing, but since this was a week day, sales help was limited, but there were two sales ladies at the counter serving other customers, so I got in line and when one of them was free, asked for assistance. She kindly agreed and asked what I was looking for and I described a girdle or panty girdle to help with my tummy. She then lead me over and started making suggestions, and finally picked one out and after asking my waist size, told me, "this will be perfect, it will help with the skirts on 'those days'". I smiled and told her, "that is exactly why I want it, I am tired of changing my entire wardrobe once a month, then changing it back". She smiled and lead me back to the cash register and I paid for the girdle and proceeded to leave with my purchase.

I thanked her and left for the concourse and on around the mall, coming to my next stop, which was a woman's clothing store called Braemar's, they specialize in more upscale women's clothing and have a great petite section. I headed right for the back of the store which had the formal/holiday wear displayed and I felt like a little girl in a candy store and started looking through all of the wonderful formal/holiday dresses. There were so many lovely holiday dresses and I was really interested in seeing more of the beaded and sequined dresses, possibly in black, and found a few, but with a $225 price tag, they were way out of my price range. I then found a rack of "short little black dresses", and they were marked down from $180 to $75, and they definitely caught my interest. There were only about 10 left, and were basically black, beaded, short and generously form fitting. I ran across a size 13/14 and headed for the change room.

I was met by a smiling sales woman and she told me to pick a change stall and to call out if I had any problems. The change area at Braemar's is very classy, it is a hallway off to the side of the store with three large mirrors at the end, and off to the sides of the hallway are the roomy change rooms with a lockable door. There were two other women in the change area trying on dresses and I smiled when I passed then and took my dress and headed to a change stall. Once inside I undressed and slipped into the dress and of course knew I would need help with the dress and clipped up the snap at the top and headed out of the door for some help zipping myself all of the way up. I was not worried about anyone seeing my bra, or the tops of my pantyhose as the area was basically a "woman's only area. The sales woman was no where in site and a woman waiting for her friend to come out of a change room, saw my dilemma and offered to zip me up. I accept and she helped me zip up, "what a cute dress", she said, as she zipped me up, I looked back, smiled and thanked her.

I went to the end of the change area and stood in front of the three large mirrors and started looking at myself in the dress. I was not pleased with the way the dress hung on my body, believe it or not, the 13/14 looked like a huge sack on me, no shape and very loose fitting. I began to start to turn around and such and by that time, the sales woman had come back and started to comment on the appearance of the dress. She grabbed the sides as to simulate some alterations and commented, "looks like you will need some work to have this taken in to form to your body". I asked if there was an 11/12 on the rack and sales lady said she would check and started out of the change area, back into the store to find one. As she was leaving the woman's friend that helped me with the zipper came out of the change area in the identical dress to mine, except in a calf length style. She turned to face her friend for help in zipping and I got full view of her panties, pantyhose and bra from the rear, what a wonderfully feminine moment!. The sales woman looked back at me and commented that the dress she was wearing was the longer version of the one I was trying on, and I might want to consider it, and I told her I would wait for the 11/12 of the shorter one before deciding. I watched as the woman went to the end of hall to model the dress in the three large mirrors.

I waited outside my change room and the sale woman came back and unzipped me from the dress I was wearing and handed a size 11/12 of the same style, she told me it was the last one on the rack. I slipped the size 13/14 off and the 11/12 dress on, and did the clasp at the top of the dress and knew that it was going to be a perfect fit. I slipped my suede 3 ½"heels, adjusted the 18" pearls and knew that the way I look right then, I was ready for a formal evening out.

Once I left the change room, the sales woman was waiting for me and zipped me up. I went to the mirrors and was impressed with the look, a "little black dress", perfect, the sales woman also commented that the dress was very flattering and that I should stick with it, rather than the longer version. She also commented that the heels and pearls set the outfit off perfect, and set I looked ready for a Christmas Party, and I said, "perfect, I'll take it". She then helped me unzip out of the dress and I changed back into my clothes for the day, my skirt, blouse and jacket.

I took the dress and headed for the counter and paid for my purchase, I chatted with the sales woman and she asked, "getting ready for Christmas?", and told her that the dress was for my company Christmas party, and she told me, "you certainly will look fantastic in that dress". I thanked her and headed out of the store and back into the concourse for my next stop.

A Christmas shopping trip would not be complete without a trip to my second favorite woman's clothing store and that is Reitman's, a store that always has great fashions and caters to the career woman and from time to time can offer some lovely formal fashions. I have bought tons over the years from Reitman's, formal dresses, leather skirts, lingerie (my Wedding night Lingerie), skirts, blouses, etc. This trip to Reitman's was no different. Once I arrived inside I started browsing the racks as usual to find what was interesting an new, and surprisingly they did not have that many formal fashions available. I ran across a lovely all lace black blouse, collar on it and everything, and I immediately fell in love with the blouse. I also noticed that if a person were to wear it, there was no lining to cover a bra or anything and decided to inquire about it at the main desk. The sales girl I spoke with told me, "oh, we have the perfect 'cami', to go under it, let me show you". She lead me over to a rack of clothes right around the corner of the blouse and looked me over and said, "medium, right?", I smiled and said "yes" and took the blouse and camisole and followed her to the change area. She lead me down the hall to a very similar change area as Braemar's except it was a little smaller, she opened the door to a stall and asked to call if I needed any help. I thanked her and proceeded to slip out of my jacket and blouse and slipped into the camisole and lace blouse. I looked in the mirror of the large change stall and they looked terrific together and I did not need a sales girl to tell me that they did, and slipped back into my blouse and jacket and headed for the cashier.

The sales girl smiled as I put down the blouse and camisole and asked, "did it fit alright?", I smiled back and said, "it sure did". I paid for my purchase and headed back out to the mall concourse for my next stop. After all this time I decided to check my watch and lone behold and hour and a half had gone by!, so I decided to continue around the mall going directly to the place I was to meet Sharon. Sharon was waiting for me, reading her book, and asked if I was ready to go, and I told her that I had one last thing to get and that was panties that the Bay usually puts on sale around this time of year. She agreed and we headed for the lingerie department at the Bay, this year they had re-organized the store and the women's lingerie department was located on the lower level, so away we went.

The selection stunk and the lingerie sales counter was busy and I was getting hungry, and suggested to Sharon that we leave and she agreed and away we went, back to the car where we left for the lunch portion of our Shopping day out.

Sharon and I had not really determined where we would be dining for lunch and talked about it as we left the mall, and we decided that we would try a new place that opened up right on the way home. "Montana's", a road house type of place and it was near Sharon's work, and the girls at her work had commented how good it was, so we decided to try there.

We walked in just before the lunch rush hour and were greeted by a hostess that addressed us, "good afternoon ladies, two smoking or non-smoking?", we answered "non" and were escorted to our table. The waitress that served our was energetic to say the least, greeting us with, "Hello ladies, my name is Marnie, I am your waitress, can I get you something to drink?". Sharon and I both order draft beer and then selected something from the menu, I stayed on the light side, with a soup and salad and Sharon did the same.

Sharon and I chatted about various things, Stage West, our anniversary dinner and such and enjoyed our meal and talked girltalk. Sharon and I discussed trying to find a formal restaurant that we could get all dressed up for a special anniversary dinner, Sharon said that she knew of a place that might work and said that she would ask one of her co-workers. Sharon was the first to use the ladies room and once she was done, I took my turn. I found the room bare and had full use of all of the stalls and had full use of the makeup mirror as I touched up my lipstick and adjusted my hair. Once I was done I met Sharon at the table, and she told me that she had already settled the bill, so we put our coats on and grabbed our purses and headed for the door.

Once home Sharon kissed me goodbye for now and we separated and went to wrap our Christmas presents.