How delightful it was to arrive at Kathy Byrnes' home to find a homemade poster on the door welcoming us. She had written "I got it!" on our ad for the makeover project. And under that: "Thank you Phaedra, Lynne and The Santa Fe New Mexican."

She probably could be sweeter, but I'm not sure how.

Inside, Kathy's home is filled with children's art and, endearingly, piles of laundry she hadn't quite gotten around to putting away yet.

"I'm so embarrassed," she said. She shouldn't have been; the house really wasn't that messy.

Her closet was another matter. Everything in it was either a hit or a major miss.

It was almost as if Kathy had gone out shopping with the specific goal of finding some skirts that were exactly wrong for her, and succeeded. Certain things — such as a full, calf-length skirt with horizontal banding at the waist and hem — I had to instruct her to never, ever, wear again.

The garments themselves weren't terribly bad, but Kathy does what many people do; she picks clothes because she likes the color or print, not because they are things that would look good on her.

Other items — such as the embroidered lemon-yellow cardigan she'd inherited from her grandmother — were treasures patiently waiting for the paired garments that would make them sing. She also had a nice selection of jewelry that included hits, such as a Tiffany pendant her brother gave her for her birthday one year, and misses, such as tangled beaded necklaces.

I believe she had only three pairs of shoes.

On our shopping trip, we tried to introduce Kathy to some of Santa Fe's locally owned boutiques — I was especially taken with the romantic offerings being presented for summer at Talulah in the Plaza Mercado building.

But finding things in her size — which is a 10 to 12 — was not easy downtown. I'm constantly amazed at the fashion industry's refusal to recognize that the average American woman is probably about a size 12 (this figure is a moving target, but most things I've read place it somewhere between 10 and 14). Sure, designers want their clothes shown on human hangers, but can distributors really afford to leave that much money on the table? Apparently they can.

Like most women over 40 who haven't had liposuction, Kathy's body cried out for a lined dress, which sent us straight into the arms of Dillard's. I know, I know — corporate bank clothes, etc. But hey, where in other shops we'd found only frustration, in Dillard's we found a plethora of lined, reasonably priced dresses from which to choose.

As a matter of fact, we found so many dresses that looked good on Kathy there that I nearly had to flip a coin to decide which one to get. Instead I used another much more scientific approach. I showed the shoe department salesclerk a photo of Kathy in each dress and we went with the one she picked. Oh yeah — stylist Lynne Kudus and Kathy liked it, too!

Having purchased shoes and dress by 6 p.m., I was optimistic that we could bring our shopping trip with Kathy in under the 12-hour mark, but that was not to be.

For the first time in the history of my project, I left before the entire outfit had been purchased because I had to pick up my son at the airport. So I left shopping for accessories to Lynne and Kathy. Kathy told me later that task took several more hours to complete.

Kathy said she was beginning to wonder how choosing earrings could take so long, but when they finally found The Pair she was glad they had taken the time. "When I put on those earrings, we could just see the spark in the mirror, both Lynne and I," she said. So in the end, Kathy's shopping trip lasted about 12 hours, too. Perfection does take time.

Next week: See Kathy in the dress that made her tear up and say "It's just so beautiful."

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.