A lot of girls have either experienced this moment or witnessed this moment from afar.

You’re out one night at a party or a restaurant or at a wedding. You feel great in your new dress. You love the colour, the style, the detail. It’s a brand new purchase. Across the room you spot the same colour and your initial gaze turns into more of a longing stare. The same colour is on another girl and as she turns around you realise you may as well have a mirror in front of you as you both have the same dress on. Sometimes, this exact moment can be awkward or won’t be much of a bother. Other times, depending on where you are one of you could turn into a bit of a nasty person. No female ever really wants to be in this situation. When you go out, you want to be an individual and be the only one wearing what you have on. It is usually a blessing in disguise when you have spotted a dress in a catalogue or seen it in the window and ask for it in your size, only to be told that style has sold out. Shops like Country Road and Witchery are great for basics but they will make “that gorgeous red dress with the large bow on the right side” at least 500 times and eventually you will see someone else out in it and honestly for me, it’s a bit of a turn off.

I discovered Sami and Sita by chance in 2007. I was on a bit of a hunt to find a dress to wear to a Christmas party so in my mind I was thinking at least red so I looked a bit festive. I left Sami and Sita that day with a purchase and have been back several times most notably last November as I found my bridesmaid dresses there too.

The next time you’re in Paddington, Sydney go to William Street. It’s a little street that runs off Oxford Street and currently the Paddington Inn pub and French Connection are the landmarks on the corner. Not far down on the right hand side is the boutique Sami and Sita. They will often have dresses blowing in the wind that hang from the door to entice you in. I love going to Sami and Sita to buy dresses because they rarely make more than one size of each style so it minimises the risk of running into your twin out there. They have dresses in beautiful fabrics, prints and colours. There are minis, maxis and dresses to wear to the races, weddings, a night out with the girls, a hot date or dresses just to wear to make you look and feel great! Their prices are reasonable and on par with the larger retailers so if you have bought a dress in Cue or Country Road you can afford to buy a dress at Sami and Sita. This is me in the “Christmas dress” and you will notice it’s not a wallflower dress but a pretty bold red and white stripe print. It certainly fit the bill as I felt more than a bit festive that night and most importantly I still have yet to come across my twin in red and white.