"Oh, okay. All right, but we'll be back in, like, fifteen minutes," Mara promised.
Fifteen minutes? Eliza and Jacqui eyed each other. Obviously Mara had never been shopping with girls like them before.
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main street, east hampton: that is why they invented credit cards
The girls lingered over saris and "summer weight" satins at Calypso, where Jacqui picked up another Eres bikini to add to the fifteen bathing suits she had already brought with her, then they hightailed it to Tracey Feith to take a look at the new sundresses, passing by Steven Stolman because Eliza wanted to check if the rainbow-colored Jelly Kellys were in. Sadly, they weren't: they were on wait list and out of stock. At Jimmy's the selection of beaded corset gowns took their breath away.
Next stop: Scoop on the Beach.
"This is my favorite!" Eliza said, walking by the racks of terry cloth Juicy tube dresses, pastel-colored Marc Jacobs camisoles and tanks, rows of candy-colored cotton minis, and shelves of James Perse baby T-shirts and shrunken Joie hooded sweaters--the unofficial Hamptons uniform.
The store was filled with emaciated twenty- and thirty-year- old women trying on Petit Bateau T-shirts (made for French toddlers). Dueling mother and daughter tag teams abounded.
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Mara noticed two distinct breeds--mothers who dressed younger than their daughters in Von Dutch tank tops and terry cloth sweatpants while their daughters wore vintage Chanel jackets, and mothers who dressed exactly like their daughters, both generations in sleeveless black Lacoste dresses and espadrilles.
"Can I help you?" asked a bubbly salesgirl, about their age, in a T-shirt that read JUICY across the chest. "Looking for something in particular?" she asked Mara, who looked a bit hesitant, while Eliza and Jacqui went through the racks with feverish passion.
Mara shrugged. "Not really."
"Just let me know if I can help you in any way!" the salesgirl chirped, and left Mara alone to wait on more savvy customers.
Mara noticed most of the shoppers clustered around several tables stacked with folded jeans and decided to follow their lead. There were blue jeans, dark blue jeans, pin-striped jeans, colored jeans, and "dirty" jeans. Bell-bottom. Low rise. Super--low rise. Flared. Slim. Boot leg. Jeans with cargo pockets in the front, on the butt, or on the thigh. There were so many permutations of infinitesimal difference. Yet everyone around Mara was discussing which ones they already owned and which ones they still had to buy. Mara turned over a price tag. $175! For a pair of blue jeans that didn't look too different from her own trusty Levi's.
"Mom, what do you think?" a sylph of a girl asked, walking out of the dressing room wearing a nude chiffon slip dress with a plunging neckline.
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Her mother, a knockout with toned Linda Hamilton arms and a taut midriff, shook her head. "Don't you think it's a little too much for someone your age?" she asked.
"I'm twelve!" her daughter argued.
A thirty-year-old woman walked out of her dressing room wearing the same exact dress. She looked at the girl and sighed. "I would kill to have your waist."
The energetic salesclerk helped Jacqui and Eliza as they both disappeared into the dressing rooms underneath a humungous pile of clothing. Mara hung behind, her eyes widening at the prices. She found a cute bandanna-printed sleeveless blouse but immediately put it back when she saw how much it cost. $250! For a cotton top? Was there nothing in the store under fifty bucks? Yup--a pile of cotton belts in a bucket by the door. Eliza emerged from the wooden shutter doors in a slinky bias-cut Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.
"Omigod, that is totally adorbs on you! Reese bought the same one yesterday," the salesgirl gushed. Dropping a celebrity name was just the thing to ensure a quick sale; even Mara knew that.
"You don't say?" Eliza asked. "I'll take it!"
The salesgirl grinned. Mara knew that smile: it said sucker, but Eliza was too pleased with her new dress to notice.
"Find anything?" Eliza asked Mara as she tugged at the underfifty-dollar belt and critically appraised her figure in the mirror.
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"No, uh, I'll just wait for you guys. Maybe I should get back," Mara said.
"What are you talking about!" Eliza said, marching over. She pulled out a body-hugging red strapless Shoshanna dress that came with a pair of matching red lace underwear. "Try this on. With your dark hair, this is going to look perfect on you!"
"I don't know... ," Mara said.
The mother and daughter who were arguing about the sexy chiffon dress walked up to the register. "Get out of my way, Mom, I'm getting it," the daughter said, holding the hanger and brandishing her Visa card. "It's perfect for Tiffany's bat mitzvah!"
Her mother sighed and gave Mara a look that said: Kids, what can you do?