Tibi: An Obsession (Tibi Tibi Tibi)

It would all start with my 21st birthday and a cream colored satin dress, with black roses scrolled over it, black satin sash and black tulle coming out of the bottom. Jeanie, the then owner at McColly’s boutique on College Street in Athens, let me take the dress home to Macon. My mission? Show the $300+ dress to my parents and grandmothers, to convince them that if they wrote me checks for my birthday present it would be well worth it to me to use them towards this dress. Somehow- I convinced them, and an obsession was started.

Tibi would become my go-to brand for nearly any occasion. Not long after that dress was purchased, a co-worker that this boutique informed me that there was a Tibi outlet on Saint Simons Island. Just my luck, that’s where our family vacation home is!

Tibi is my love. I have so many Tibi dresses and I generally end up wearing a Tibi dress for any special occasion. I wore Tibi to the FOODIES two years ago, in 2011:

I wore Tibi to the Taste of the Arts 2012:

(photo credit: Steve Schroeder Photography http://www.swsphoto.com/ )

And as I said before, on my 21st birthday and the same dress again for Kappa Alpha’s Old South Ball in 2005 (I cannot find a photo from that birthday just yet- will add when I do):

Also, a sample dress for one of my photo shoots, this one for #TheMuseProject, I also wore it to my friend Tori’s White Party:

(photo credit: Skyler Photography)

And even to last year’s AAF MAX Awards, this particular Tibi dress was also worn by Leighton Meester’s character, Blair, in Gossip Girl:

I even wore my one-of-a-kind Tibi sample coat for New Year’s. It’s a one of a kind because, as the girls there told me, the one I bought had different shaped shoulder pads than what the end design has. Yeesssssss.

Tibi is my stand-by-anything-goes-for-any-occasion designer. Like, seriously, I would take Tibi over food. And many times when living in Athens, Georgia, I did. It’s kind of like what Carrie said in Sex and the City about Vogue: “When I first moved to New York and I was totally broke, sometimes I would buy Vogue instead of dinner. I felt it fed me more.” That’s pretty much how I feel about Tibi.

So much so, that I drove to the outlet on St. Simons Island recent just  to shop for one afternoon. 3 1/2 hours down, spent an hour shopping, visited with my mom and grandmother (we have a condo down there) took a nap then 3 1/2 hours back. Just for Tibi. But I got three dresses that were normally $350+ for under $40. I know you understand.

However, I did leave a few behind that I really really wanted, but my budget wouldn’t permit it. One in particular seemed like fate.

I saw this dress, named Arabella, worn by Olivia Palermo to the Gala Spa awards. Seriously. In the outlet. Discounted. I died. I swooned. I took of picture of myself in it and sent it to my guy who said “it doesn’t look right on you”. But- how could it be?! Olivia Palermo wore it was the emphatic text I sent back to him. And “Arabella” is the name of the main character in the book I have been writing ITS FATE. I didn’t receive any response.

(photo credit: http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2012/03/22/olivia-palermo-in-tibi-gala-spa-awards/)

However- whether he was right or not- I decided to show some restraint. I already own one white Tibi full length gown, and one off white one, as yall have seen above. So, the question remains, as I bade miss Arabella goodbye- should I have gone back to retrieve her? Or should I let my Tibi obsession subside? I will let you, the readers and often my guides, answer that question.

Til next time… Love to All Y’all…