hola, isabel

While I do admit to spending time at a nudist resort, I swear I’m not an exhibitionist at all.  I would never go naked around someone I know.  I wouldn’t even change my clothes in front of my best friend.  But back in teenage years I found myself changing clothes in a room full of women all the time.

I don’t know who first told me about Fritzies.  It was as if I had always known it existed.  As if everyone had always known.

Fritzies was located in a giant warehouse a few towns away.  There weren’t any signs on the outside of the building.  So honestly, I’m not sure if Fritzies was even its actual name.  The inside of the warehouse was a mess.  Basically it was just racks and racks of clothes in no particular order.  When there wasn’t room for a rack, a huge cardboard box was filled with clothes.

It was amazing and disgusting, all at the same time.

I have no idea where these clothes came from or where they were going.  I just knew they were inexpensive.  It was like magic.  When you found something you liked on the rack, you have to look it over very carefully to make sure there weren’t any holes in it.  At the time I had no idea what that was about.  As an adult I know they were samples or seconds.  But back then, I just thought someone had been pissed and sliced the clothes.  (duh!)

You didn’t always find anything to buy at Fritzies.  Sometimes, after hours of searching, you had to accept that it was a bust.  But sometimes, sometimes, you hit pay dirt and found the most perfect item for less then $10.  Finding something I loved was a treat for me. Finding something that didn’t cost a lot of money was a treat for my mom!  (You know, since she was paying for my clothes back then.)

Here’s the thing about Fritzies; since it was technically just a warehouse, it didn’t have your typical changing rooms.  What it had was one big room where everyone would try on their clothes together.  TOGETHER.  This frightened me to the core.  Before a planned trip to Fritzies I would spend days and days stressing over having to change in front of people.  The odds were that it wouldn’t be anyone you knew.  But, naturally, there was the possibility of going in the dressing room and seeing the most popular girl from school, your Sunday school teacher, or even your English teacher.

Gulp.

Because of this I never went to Fritzies with girlfriends.  I took my mom.  And as I got older, I went alone.  I wasn’t dumb enough to bring someone with me that I’d have to change in front of.  Thinking back, when my mom did come I’d make her stand in front of me and be a sort of screen when I changed.

As I got a little older, and stopped growing, I didn’t have to try the clothes on as frequently.  I could usually just hold something up to me and tell if it fit or not.  Thankfully.

We went to Utah last weekend to visit my family.  The King and I had a little time to ourselves to go out.  We just happened to be driving through the town were Fritzies was located.  As we passed the street it was on I was reminded of Fritzies.  The warehouse looked empty.

I’m not sure where the locals find cheap clothes anymore.  (Probably Wal-Mart.)

While thinking about this post I knew I wanted to try to include a picture of me wearing something I got at Fritzies.  I could remember one (black velvet) dress I got there that I wore to a dance.  And I knew I wore a skirt from there on my way to my first wedding ceremony.

I knew I wasn’t going to find a picture from my wedding day.  But I was pretty sure I had a picture of the black dress.

(I bought this dress for $10.  My mom bought the white lace, which cost more then the dress, and sewed it on to the front of the dress and the sleeves.)

(Yes, I’m a senior in high school in this picture.  Yes, my date was 15!  He asked me.  I didn’t want to be rude and turn him down. So instead I dated a minor.)

(Plus, dude, check out his sweater!)

Then I found this next picture.  I KNOW I got this dress at Fritzies too.  (It had all this weird extra fabric on the back.  I wasn’t sure what it was for.  Mostly it just made me look like I had a bubble butt, which you can see in the picture.)

(This date is also younger then me.  Again, he asked me!)

(Again, check out that sweater!)

I about died when I found the next picture which is from my COLLEGE GRADUATION.  Dude, I got this dress at Fritzies too.  As well as the white shirt I wore under it.  (To be fair, it was adorable.  I wore it with white knee high socks and Doc Martin mary janes.)

(That boy isn’t younger then me, nor was he my boyfriend.  I mean, seriously, while I will date a boy with a horrible sweater, I draw the line at dating someone with suspenders.)

I didn’t realize I was still shopping at Frtizies in college.  E-gads, that’s embarrassing.