It’s all about The Dress for prom
I remember The Dress. It was simple — floor-length, black, with rhinestones around the bodice and the straps. It fell into pleats from the waist down. It was perfect for me.
I weighed all of 115 pounds, so really, just about everything looked good back then.
It was prom night my junior year, and I was in love.
My date wore a burgundy velvetlike sports coat — if I remember correctly.
The theme was “An Evening in Paris.”
I’ll bet there weren’t two people in my entire little hometown who’d ever been to Paris at that point, but I guess that’s what made it so exotic.
Some wonderful artists in our class painted a backdrop, and we had little bistro chairs set up for the photo. The picture of me and my date is in a box somewhere.
I got to experience prom when my older son went, but renting a tuxedo is not nearly as much fun as picking out The Dress.
When the editor suggested I “follow the dress” from a recent sorority project at the University of Central Arkansas, I thought it would be fun, and it was.
Cinderella’s Closet has been going on for a few years, in which UCA collects party dresses to sell for just
$10 for any girl who needs or wants one.
I was looking for someone who would let me follow the dress — from buying it to wearing it at prom.
One of our unmarried photographers with me at the event pointed out a girl he thought was pretty, and I approached her and asked if I could follow her through the process.
She agreed pretty quickly. Her boyfriend came in later, called me aside and asked what this “follow-the-dress” idea entailed, “because I’ve got something planned,” he said.
I assured him we wouldn’t be riding in the back seat with them all night.
(Although — maybe next time …)
A female freelance photographer and I showed up at the designated place where three girls were getting ready, and we talked to their mothers and watched the girls put on makeup and do their hair.
It brought back memories, of course.
The photographer who was with me recalled how she almost blinded a whole congregation at St. Joseph Catholic Church. She wore a long, silver-sequined dress, and they went to Mass prior to prom.
The light coming in the windows of the church bounced off the sequins in a dazzling way.
She said she felt like a disco ball, and she kept expecting Bee Gees music to start playing.
These young women we watched calmly get ready for their night had perfect dresses — there was the long, burgundy dress Kate Mccalman wore, which was beautiful with her hair and fair skin; Makenzie Green was gorgeous in her short, silver-sequined dress; and Christie Ernsbarger was stunning in her $10 long, black, strapless dress with a pattern of rhinestones on the waist.
While I was at the Cinderella’s Closet event, a woman asked me if I’d heard of Mom Prom.
Women wear their old prom dresses and get together to dance and have fun and raise money for charity. I think it’s a great idea. The Dress is hanging in my closet, and we can all wear sunglasses and invite the freelance photographer to wear hers.