I never thought of myself as clothes crazy, although my family swears that as a toddler I would change outfits a dozen times every day. But sometime after college, an old pair of jeans and a baggy sweater got to be really, really comfortable.

When it came to picking out a dress for our wedding, I didn’t really want to worry about it. So I went up to San Francisco, popped into a shop and picked something off the rack. I went home with it a week later.

Of course, my fiancé ordered a tuxedo from Italy. Hand stitched. Beautiful. Perfect. And suddenly, I realized. He was going to look better than me on our wedding day.

My off the rack, picked in an afternoon dress didn’t seem right anymore.

My friend Stephen saved the day. Stephen has helped me pick out my clothes for years. He’s honest. He tells me what looks good and what doesn’t. And he does it without making me cry. (He always blames the clothes, and not me!) What girl doesn’t need that?

Of course, I hadn’t taken Stephen to pick out the wedding dress. And when he saw it, he said it was, ummm, less than perfect. But with only six weeks until the wedding, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Stephen said I had to meet a designer in the city – Jin Wang. She has a shop on Maiden Lane. I was expecting someone snooty. But I met Jin. And she was warm, friendly and funny. She didn’t judge me. But she did ask delicately, “Why did you wait so long to find the right dress?”

I guess in trying so hard not to be a bridezilla, I actually became a designer’s nightmare. “I need the perfect, most beautiful gown – right now!”

Jin kept her cool. She was professional. She was great. And she created a beautiful gown that I thought was made for me. I absolutely loved it. It looked great next to my husband’s tuxedo. And it was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

p.s. Jin is still designing perfect dresses. www.jinwang.net