What was in the box, or getting my diet's Worth

OK. Worst. Title. Ever.

What I'm trying to convey in that terrible pun is the idea that my reward for being at the gym at 7:00 a.m. is new clothes, and lots of them.

You know how economists talk about the pent up demand consumers feel when they've locked up the credit cards because the economy is tanking and they're feeling insecure about their jobs? I'm experiencing that on the micro level. I hadn't been buying that many clothes because, as I may have mentioned once or twice, shopping is no fun when you're feeling fat. So now that I've dropped a dress size, I'm making up for several lean years where I really didn't buy very many clothes.

Which brings me to Worth New York. This is one of those mid-range clothing companies that does direct sales, like the Carlisle Collection and Doncaster. You don't see these clothes in stores; you get invited to trunk shows in someone's home or a hotel suite or something.

A friend of mine has become a representative and invited me to check the stuff out. Usually I run away screaming when a friend of mine wants me to sell me stuff, but I have very few clothes that fit. So my friend lucked out--I bought a ton of stuff. I ordered it in late October, and a couple of days ago, a box showed up with the following:
 
This dress in a sludgey slate blue--there's an interesting zipper detail in the front.

This very fitted dress in a very dark brown that has an interesting laser cut design on the back.

An enormous, sheer, tie-dyed cashmere shawl in shades of dark olive, cream, and brown. This other woman and I were taking turns trying it on with various clothes. We were arranging for fractional ownership of it when she decided to let me have it. It doesn't look that wonderful, but trust me. You want to cuddle with it.

 This skirt? Well, I'll let the fine writers at Worth New York tell you about it:

This skirt is a mixture of sectioned leather and fabric in a black color. The addition of fabric to the leather softens the skirts [sic] and stops it from being to [sic]edgy and confrontational.

I don't actually mind edgy, but I draw the line at confrontational.

Finally, we have my costume for when I want to go out on Halloween as one of Coco Chanel's shop girls, circa 1955.

It's black wool knit with a detachable collar and cuffs, and I wore it to a meeting today. Afterwards, I sashayed through the Chanel boutique. They didn't offer to hire me, so I think I'll apply for a job as copy editor on the Worth New York website.

But wait: there's more. Another box showed up today!

When it comes to shopping losing weight, I'm nothing if not thorough.