prom.

do you remember your high school prom?

your junior year prom? SENIOR YEAR prom?

oh... i do... but i had blocked it all out until a few weeks ago when my man-child reminded me his prom was about to happen, then again when Lendi (The Threadbare Gypsy) mentioned that she and her daughter were going prom dress shopping... I had immediate flashbacks with those double-whammies...

my junior year - i decided (and the household finances also helped with my decision) to design and make my own dress. i was dating a young man that went to another school in Waco (i considered that the BIG CITY at the time...) so i had TWO proms to attend - mine and his! "the Mama" and i made a biggggggg trip to the fabric store - i had my sketch pad out...

i was in designing mode...

for TWO DRESSES!

oh - the FUN! the THRILL!!!

the dress for his prom was going to be sapphire blue and white... the dress for MY prom was going to be aqua blue with sparkles - both with fun sleeves and lots of "flounce"

imagine this:

the sapphire blue dress was tea-length, blue and white polka dots - lifts at the bottom (secured with eyelet bows) so the ruffles would peak out underneath, big cap sleeves with more eyelet bows... a sweetheart neckline, drop waist... WHITE SHOES... even worse: WHITE HOSE...

the aqua blue was tea-length, satin and lace... FULL super-pouffy LACE cap sleeves, sweetheart neckline, lace cutouts on the bodice that my Mom sat up all night (the night before prom) and sewed her very own crystals in each flower center, drop waist... white shoes...

excuse me for a minute - i think i will go crawl in a fashion hole and not come out...

the HORROR!!!

*shudder*

but i'm not done yet... i still have to shock and awe you with my senior prom dress...

Brandi was my best friend all through high-school. it was a tiny tiny school in the middle of Texas. senior prom was a HUGE DEAL. months of prep and planning... "what am i going to do with my hair?", "who is going to ask me to prom?", "WHAT DRESS WILL I WEAR?!",etc., etc.

well, Brandi and her mom were going to make her senior year prom dress, but neither of them knew what style to make. so - off we go on a day trip to the dress shop. in Waco at the time i think there was only ONE dress shop and it had ballgowns, prom gowns, pageant gowns, bridal gowns... a whole shop full of ruffles and lace and sparkles and flounce and "poof"... a GIRL'S DREAM!!! i will never forget when we walked in -  i sucked in my breath and my eyes didn't know where to go first... i could have moved in to that shop and stayed for the rest of my life! GORGEOUS EVERYWHERE!!!

Brandi started playing around picking out and trying on dresses so that she and her mom had some ideas... i aimed straight for the ball gowns. rows and rows and rows of ruffles...

then i saw it:

the gown of all gowns, the creme of the crop... i swear to you - it had light shining down on it - and i'm not talking late 80's fluorescent light...

it was THE DRESS.

i held my breath, WHISPERED at the sales lady, "oh please, could i try this on?", followed her - pretty much on her heels and within an inch of that dress - to the dressing room... pulled it over my head...

the zipper sounded as sweet as a summer breeze, the petticoats dropped and landed as if they were performing a happy dance of their own, the poufy sleeves settled on my shoulders as if they had come home... the drop waist sat right where it was supposed to and belled out for a mile each direction - making the sweetest music with each breath that i took...

sparkle and sequins and ruffles and petticoats...

that petal pink taffeta, with lace and sparkle pick-ups along the bottom to show even MORE white lace, beaded bodice and drop waist Cinderella dress had been MADE FOR ME.

it was mine...
it was destiny...
it was going to make me the belle of my prom...

I HAD TO HAVE THAT DRESS!!!

i went home and told "the Mama" allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll about THE DRESS... for days. weeks. but... i also knew telling her about THE DRESS wasn't going to fix the fact that i was one of three for a single-mama with two jobs - and one of the 3 was in college. talking about THE DRESS wasn't going to make the job that i had (even if i had saved every penny) add up $$ wise to THE DRESS amount... so while talking about THE DRESS i was also trying to come up with a plan B.

my design brain hated plan B, my sewing machine hated plan B, the fabric store hated plan B. i hated plan B...

apparently "the Mama" wasn't a big fan of plan B, BECAUSE:

she jumped through hoops for me to have THE DRESS. and the hoops that she stumbled in, her friend volunteered to keep jumpin' through for her... SERIOUSLY!!! it's a mama-daughter legend of all legends 'cause I WORE THAT DRESS TO MY SENIOR PROM!!!

THE DRESS hung in all of it's majestic dreamy ruffly lacy sparkly glory in my room, then in my bathroom so that i could squeeze by that great giant pile of petticoats and skirt just to hear it rustle all of the morning before prom...

the day of prom came and it was a day as big as THE DRESS. "the Mama" did my hair (think: farrah fawcett wings and an insane amount of hairspray), she did my make-up, gave me her pink pearls to wear (not the ones she had used ritt dye to make pink, but the REAL pink pearls), i donned the white panty hose... and... uhmmm... the white shoes.

In this case though - the white hose and shoes were covered by the 19 layers of petticoats - then the lace - then the taffeta...

*sigh*

my date my senior year was my older brother's best friend. when i was young i TOLD him he would be my date... he should have listened 'cause i never forgot that i had asked him to my senior prom! LOL poor Snydley... he had to hang out with a bunch of high school kids for an evening... but he DID have the prom queen as his date! i think it was more the late 80's/early 90's Cinderella Princess petti-coated ball gown that won the crown than me...

i figured, since you can't "un-see" fashion crimes once you've laid eyes on their atrociousness, i'd show you my son's prom pictures and just let you use your imagination regarding my prom outfits...

you're welcome. *grin*

the man-child flew solo with a couple of wing-men in tow, but then found a dancing and dinner partner once he walked in. he had fun... i think... apparantly prom for a young man is not as important as prom is to a young lady, 'cause... uhmm... he acted like it was a regular Saturday night. LOLOL!!! pffffftttt...

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where, once-again, "the Mama" pulled the line and hooked the man-child up with a tuxedo... what a fun circle, right? *wink*



p.s.: did i fail to mention that the petal pink taffeta, with lace and sparkle pick-ups along the bottom to show even MORE white lace, beaded bodice and drop waist Cinderella dress had a bow on the back-side the size of Cinderella's pumpkin carriage?

*giggle* i'm resuming memory block-out mode now...