A Dress to Impress - In a Less Stressful Way

By Charissa Thames

Oh my gosh-I have nothing to wear!! How many times have you said that famous line? We as women can have a closet full of clothes and still have "nothing to wear". The stress of that statement is magnified when there is a special occasion to attend. Of course, showing up in last year's blue evening gown is not an option. You want a new gown of a different color. The money needed to purchase a great formal dress is usually a problem. There are a lot of online shops that offer discount dresses in a variety of styles without compromising great quality.

Prom is one of the most important (and expensive) events for a teenage female! The gentleman who is escorting you is almost as important as your prom dress! You can be a vision of glamor in a bargain of a dress! To be the belle of the ball is what you are aiming for, so give yourself plenty of time to shop for your ball gown. Whether you decide to be a Cinderella and go with a princess silhouette, or a goddess and choose a fitted sheath formal, you want to be an original. Imagine the horror of wearing the same gown as another girl! If you want a purple dress, you can shop by color. After searching our site and finding the dress of your dreams, you become a bit discouraged because it is wine and "your" color is violet. Don't upset yourself. Change the color!

When you click on your dress for more information, you will see the available colors beneath it and on the pull down menu to the right of the dress. A color chart is available to show the colors available for certain fabrics. The fabric type is mentioned under the details heading. So, go ahead-change the forest green iridescent taffeta to sky blue iridescent taffeta! Remember, always bookmark your favorite stores for easy access when its time to shop for your homecoming dress, because good shops may not necessarily appear on the top in search engines!

Many brides stick to a strict budget for their weddings to become a success. Online bridesmaid dress stores or evening dress stores are an excellent choice for bridesmaid dresses. Not only are they extremely affordable, you can find all the sizes that you need. Sometimes it is difficult to find the same style dress in a plus size. With a size range of 0-32, it simplifies the task of purchasing matching dresses. If need be, some of these stores even offer custom made dresses with their made to measure service. There is a picture to follow and written instructions to guide you through this process. You may also consider scheduling an appointment with a bridal shop to be measured professionally. Brides to be, don't forget about your mom and future mother-in-law. You'll be pleased with the selection of mother of the bride/mother of the groom dresses. They'll be impressed by the affordability!

The mad search for your pageant gown is on and you haven't even filled out your application yet! One of the main things people think of when a pageant is mentioned is an evening gown.
With this being one of the major expenses, it is good to know that online evening shops exist! It is wonderful to have an option to purchase discount gowns that contain the same glitz and glamor of the overpriced equivalent. Pageant girls are expected to show off their figures. This usually limits the styles that a plus size pageant girl has to choose from. It seems the larger the size, the more matronly the dress. With made to measure service as mentioned above, plus sized women can have the choices that thinner women do! As a plus sized pageant queen, I've had as little as two styles to choose from. It is a good feeling to go to eBay and find that I can choose from every formal displayed!

Charissa Thames, loving mother of two, is also a vocalist, actress, full figure model and pageant queen. She considers herself fortunate to be a fashion writer for the rising discount dresses & gowns online store NextEve.com, which offers complete size choices, custom make service, and most importantly affordable prices. Charissa resides with her family in Ohio. OhioClassicMsGA@hotmail.com

Wedding Dress Self Defense

By Kristy Bloch

I know traditionally that I am supposed to save my wedding dress and give it to my daughter one day, but the darn thing is taking up too much space. Besides, if she’s anything like me, she’ll want something much “cooler” or up-to-date than what her Mom wore way back in 2007. So I’ve decided to sell it.

Sounds simple enough right? Place a classified ad in the paper or online, and some sweet, grateful, bride-to-be without much money will be able to look beautiful on her big day.

But that’s exactly how a predator called the “wedding dress rapist,” found his victims.

Terrorizing women in Alabama and Colorado, police believe this maniac is still roaming the streets. While his identity is unknown, police know that he finds his victims by looking through “Wedding Dress for Sale” classified ads.

Saying that he wanted to buy the dress for his daughter, once in the victim's home he would overpower and rape them.

Now here’s the good news…
Not all of the women this creep tried to attack became victims.

One woman who was called about her ad by this guy, refused to meet with him as each time he called her from a different number. In another case, from the moment the guy came in the door the women selling her dress had a bad feeling.

When he asked if she could wear for him, she told him to leave, and he attacked her. Unlike his other victims, she fought back using good self defense moves that targeted vital areas like the head and groin. She beat him pretty good and threw him out of her home. Neighbors chased after the guy and even took a picture of his car, but he escaped before police arrived.

The best way to win a fight against an attacker is to never get allow one to happen. If you don't like how someone sounds over the phone, or through the door, don't let them in your home. If your instincts tell you not to go a certain direction, or that there is something wrong with somebody, listen…because you are probably right.

If you walk alone, try to find the safest route even if it takes a little longer. Don't always leave at the same time, and know more then one way to get home. If you are approached your first move should always be to run away.

As the instructor mentor for the International Association of Close Combat Professionals, I work with a number of highly skilled self-defense instructors. Many of which have female students who successfully fought off attackers.

In all cases, the key element that made their self defense training work each and every time was that they were attentive to their surroundings and made their move when they needed to.

In this busy world it is easy to overlook safety because most of the time things run fine. There are a lot of nice people in this world, and most do business with strangers every day without incident. But it is vitally important for every woman to remember that there are plenty of dangerous people as well that will exploit any opportunity you hand them.

When it comes to self defense keep it simple. Get away at the first opportunity, and if you have to fight, hurt them until you're able to get away.

This is not a game, not a sport, and not a martial arts competition. This is a matter of life and death, and you have to;

1) Have proper, legitimate self defense training (Not kiddie street corner Karate)
2) Be smart and vigilant in all your dealings with strangers
3) Be ready to fight for your life and to protect your body if you need to

You do not need to live a life of constant fear and paranoia to apply these tactics, just a little preparation and some good old fashioned common sense. Like the common sense not to invite a strange man over your house to look at your wedding dress (I’ll be using EBay to sell mine).

Kristy Bloch is an Instructor Mentor in the International Association of Close Combat Professionals. She left the corporate world behind in order to pursue her true passion martial arts. She has train in various martial arts including Karate, Judo, and Jujitsu. She is a long time advocate of women's self defense. For more information:
http://tstraining.powweb.com/dod/attention_women.htm