Sailing in

I found this sailboat dress on the clearance rack of Banana Republic Factory; they only had one left in a size two. Since I know other stores will ship items directly to the customer, I took the style number and started calling every store within my 100 mile radius. No one had a size four.

Of course I mentioned whined about this on social media, and Jessica kindly offered to call stores in her area. This was terribly nice of her, but I decided to let her do something productive with her afternoon and do my own legwork - the mere idea of changing my radius to somewhere halfway across the country was brilliant enough.

A couple more calls and the dress was on it's way to me from Wisconsin, though I was quite puzzled to find that not only was the sticker price $14 more than it was here, the extra reduction was 30% rather than 40% off. Evidently we get better sales in Connecticut.

After all is said and done, the dress was worth it - I wore it to my sister-in-law's nautically themed baby shower and everyone loved it.

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The Rundown
Sailboat Dress Banana Republic Factory similar
Sandals Franco Sarto via TJMaxx identical
White Mini Satchel Tignanello via TJMaxx similar
Bling Earrings JoJo Loves You
Gold Knot Necklace Thrifted similar
Anchor Bracelet Knotical Knovelites
Knot Bracelet Banana Republic
Chain Link Bracelet Thrifted similar
Knot Ring c/o Emitations
Thin Gold Ring Etsy via Sweet Olive Jewelry
Sunglasses "Meteor" Ray-Ban c/o TJMaxx
Nail Color "Gunta" Julep




45 comments

  1. Yay, so glad you found the dress....it is perfection on you!

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  2. Omg in love with that dress! The print is amazing! Happy Monday!!

    <3 Shannon
    Upbeatsoles.blogspot.com

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  3. Woohoo! That dress really is the perfect fit for you...gets the pretty factor in plus your nautical-ness. And it's also red, white and blue :)
    http://www.closet-fashionista.com/

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  4. Love this dress!! It looks amazing on you, totally understand why you loved it!

    xx,
    La Joie de Vivre by Alecia Mariana
    Facebook//Twitter//Instagram // Bloglovin

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  5. I would definitely say it was worth it because this dress looks STUNNING on you!! I looooooooooooooooove the nautical design and how you perfectly paired it with the nautical themed accessories! You look stunning!

    www.thejoyoffashionblog.com

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  6. What a great dress! I love all of the nautical accessories. Perfect for summer

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  7. I ADORE that dress!!! It looks great! Love your gold necklace, too!

    xx Bee
    http://lightandvibes.com

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  8. I'm so glad you found your dress! It feels great when you finally track down something you've been looking for. This dress is so pretty and worth hunting down. It looks great on you!

    Nicole
    Nicole to the Nines

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  9. Looooooooooove that dress -- it looks fabulous on you! :)

    Jen @ Librarian for Life + Style

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  10. Love, love, love that dress! As always, you make it by having the perfect accessories!

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  11. Beautiful! Loveee that dress.

    www.dressedby-jess.com

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  12. I love your dedication to shopping!! haha I would have done the same thing for this stunning dress!! :)

    Maggie
    www.PolishedClosets.com

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  13. I just wish I had found it in Wisconsin before it shipped out to you! This is absolutely adorable and definitely perfect for a nautical themed party! I love it!

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  14. Such a fun dress! Glad you were able to find it!
    xo Adri
    www.adrilately.blogspot.com

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  15. What an adorable little dress! It's so unique too! Persistence pays off ;)

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  16. nautical baby shower sounds so chic! Love how you coordinated the nautical accessories as well! Thanks for sharing this post in our #HowISummer link-up!

    Cha Cha The Fashion Genius

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  17. What a great find! I adore nautical pieces :)

    www.fashionistastyle1.blogspot.com

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  18. What a fun dress, it was worth the search! It's so strange how in-store prices at different don't always match up.

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  19. Totally worth all the work! But, omgsh I never knew sales were different in different locations--but I am not totally suprised hehe :)

    Tori
    FashionBlingGirlyThings

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  20. Love the persistence.. definitely worth it!

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  21. such a great dress.. it looks perfect on you
    xo Jessica
    www.NewlyLoved.com

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  22. That dress is so amazing...I love that it's a big sailboat, not just a little print all over...makes it so much fun!!

    Natasha ~ TashaDelrae

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  23. That dress is absolutely stunning! I love the sailboat detailing, it's perfection. I am obsessed with everything nautical so it's perfect to me. And gorgeous photos as well.

    http://thepreppysisters.blogspot.com

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  24. ah I am dying over this dress! I want it!!!!!! its so dang cute! great look! and perfect photo location too! you rocked this look!

    kelseybang.com

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  25. What could possibly be more perfect to wear to a nautical-themed baby shower? I can't think of a single thing. This dress was definitely worth the leg work. It fits you perfectly and I can't help but think how charming it is that the print matches up so well with the location where the photos were taken - it's a small thing, but I do love symmetry :)
    xox,
    Cee

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  26. That little dress is a piece of art, you look gorgeous in it.

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  27. It's adorable! Now I know why there was only one left. Wisconsin of all places having worse sales than Connecticut? Weird.

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  28. So adorable! Love love that dress. Glad you were able to track it down!

    Nikki
    thefashionablewife.com

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  29. That dress is so cute and definitely worth tracking down!

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  30. Squeee! That dress that is so adorable. It looks great on you too :)

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  31. Beautiful dress, love the print!!!

    www.plogstyle.com

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  32. Hahaaha, girl you will go the distance for a cute dress huh? But, I would say, that is a beautiful dress and print! Good buy.

    Thrifting Diva
    www.thriftingdiva.com

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  33. The power of the blogging network. I am glad you found this dress and it all worked out at the end. It's such a great dress and what a fun theme party.

    Alice
    www.happinessatmidlife.com

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  34. Wow, what a beautiful dress =)

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  35. Wow!! I love your dress! And the perfect matching bracelets are wonderful!!

    ♘ www.sugarpopfashion.com ♘

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  36. It's SUPER cute. Worth the hunt!

    http://www.thefashionableesq.blogspot.com/

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  37. I can see why you wanted so badly that dress, it looks on you like a dream. And couldn't be more perfect for nautical baby shower party.

    xoxo Ra

    http://ramona-strikeapose.blogspot.ie

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  38. Positively Gorgeous dress! Definitely worth all of the extra effort to track it down.

    Jennie

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  39. I'm wondering if you could maybe to a post on how to accomplish getting clothing this way. What to say, how to figure out who to call, etc. The reason I ask is because last year I saw a sweater I absolutely loved so I ordered online but it was too large so I returned for an exchange and by the time they got it, it was out of stock. I knew there were stores that had it but I just I wasn't able to get it. They refused to ship to me or a store in my area. It was so frustrating. I'm still upset over missing out on that sweater. So is there a way to convince customer service to do this?
    BTW this dress is beautiful and so unique!

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  40. Lydia, I remember when you were looking for it. So glad you got it! It looks fabulous on you and worked perfectly with the theme. Gorgeous motif!

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  41. Oh the thrill of the hunt!
    So glad, you were able to find it just in time.
    I love it and think you did a fabulous styling it. How thoughtful of you to go with the theme.

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  42. I love that dress! So worth the hunt, much more satisfying that way.
    xo Annie
    New England Romance

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  43. Fantastic that you finally got this lovely dress, Lydia! Even it was a little bit more expensive - it suits you so well.
    There is no better photo location for this dress!

    Annette | Lady of Style

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  44. Ah! I love, love, love this dress on you! I'm so glad that one of our stores had it. Annoying that it was a little more expensive, but worth it. And I really wouldn't have minded giving them a phone call. ;-)

    Bedknobs & Baubles

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