Oh, sigh. I didn't know it would snow today, or that dollar theaters now charge $3. But after catching Michael Clayton (surprisingly good for not being the kind of movie I usually go for), I somehow managed to survive ice skating in my little Focus all the way home. I hope tomorrow the roads have been salted and the snow is still present so I can go sledding on Dog Hill--we're going to run the dogs out, if we have to.Sometimes when I am bored and snowed in like this I get out all my old formal dresses and try them on, partly because I never get the chance to wear them and love catering to my inner child, and partly because I want to see if I can still fit in the things I wore my senior year, even after devouring tons of chocolate and lounging around with a good book for hours on end.
Today, I grabbed my old prom dress out of my closet for kicks. I remember that it was such a lucky find! The original plan was to make an elaborate mod dress I'd designed (I'd enlisted the help of my aunt who's really good at sewing) when one afternoon, while I was at my grandmother's house, she came downstairs with this beautiful emerald green satin number on a hanger.
"What do you think of this?" she asked.
It was love at first sight: handmade in the 60s and thrifted in the 80s for my youngest aunt when she was the lead in her class's version of Bye Bye Birdie.
I immediately said "of course!" I'm not one to ignore Fate.We added the pin, which is my grandma's from the 50s, after the seams burst a little--we'd had to alter the dress because it was tight, tight, tight.
Looking back, I was never one of those people who, God forbid, actually enjoyed high school. I did make some lasting friends and forge something of an identity for myself, but everyone always accepted me as "that weird girl who reads books and likes to hang out downtown." Prom, though, was fun, if only to dress up and go out with some of my favorite girls in the world.
Of course, people thought my dress was weird too--why would you wear something old like that? I liked it, though, way too much to care what anyone else thought. If they didn't like it, obviously something was wrong with them. That's an attitude I try to carry on into my sartorial pursuits to this day.
I have to ask, though, is it a creepy habit of mine to slunk around my room in ancient satin?
25 comments:
I had to laugh because...I do this all the time!!! Only when I'm home alone, of course, and it's a relief when I can fit into my high school clothes.
I love that you wore your Grandma's dress. I have always love my grandma's formal dresses but she was SO tiny that I could never wear them!
No, wanting to slink around in vintage satin is perfectly normal! At least yours is a beautiful dress and not pyjamas (my chief object of desire when I was young).
I didn't enjoy high school very much either, which is why getting to college was quite gratifying for me. I mean, I'm still a freak, but at least there are other freaks around too.
But seriously, your prom dress is beautiful- it deserves to be taken out, I think.
If this is a creepy habit, well, I'm that creepy too! I love to try on dresses, formal or not, when I'm home alone with nothing important to do. Especially in winter, when I try on light outfits dreaming of Spring :-)
I also do this :). Your old prom dress is awesome! I wish I had such a pretty dress!
It's lovely. I wish my grandmother or mother would have saved some of their old clothes for me but alas they did not =[
I was always the weird creepy girl in high school too lol
naw! vintage is best- how often do you get a chance to be totally unique these days, instead of being doppelganged by some chick in BCBG?
Plus finding the perfect thrift is so cool, you have this thing thats had its little life before and its own personality-( if thats not totally cheesy...)
I have a similar dress! it's a green satin dress like your and yes, I roam around my room dressed in that way.
it's so funny!
he he he :) I also had to laugh reading this. Lovely post, yes, I also sometimes like to play dress-up with my inner child when I'm alone. The green dress looks fabulous, it's wonderful that you have developed your own individual sense of style.
i really like that green
great post! My grandma has such big boobs all her old dresses don't fit me!
Absolutely not!! If my clothes weren't all in storage at my parents whilst I live in Manhattan, I'd frequently be doing the same! LLG xx
I love the dress, and no its not creepy to slunk around the room in ancient satin. I see it as more a decadent and refined activity, hehe.
I LOVE vintage satin. It's beautiful and looks great.
The colour of that dress is gorgeous. I also stood out at my grad (we don't have 'prom' in Canada but it's pretty much the same thing), while everyone else was in floor length poofy dresses in every colour under the sun I wore a black vintage cocktail dress with fishnets and silver strappy heels.
That dress is STUNNING. It makes me wish I'd gone to my prom, haha. I also share the habit of putting on old pretty clothes. Sometimes you'll rediscover something totally wearable and awesome. (I also do it with my brothers' and dad's old clothes and adopt things I haven't seen them in lately, but please don't tell them that).
That's such a great dress. My old prom dress seems pretty lame in comparison. :P
Mais non! It's perfectly normal. Anyway, most prom dresses are abnormal, and this green one is not the outsider but the belle of the ball.
Have you gone through bridesmaid phase yet? I spent my twenties in an array of the most hideous things, usually lavender, always with lace bibs and atrocious bows. I recall having to model one of these things for my grandmother, who sighed and said, I wish there were some way we could FIX that thing...
Hey, Bye Bye Birdie clamdiggers would be cool, to continue this theme.....
I love to dress up for no reason at all when I am at home! Your post made my day! And vintage dresses are the best!
Gorgeous dress--and its so neat how it found its way to you. My high school dances were definitely not anything to brag about either--I only went to prom. And I tend to throw on all my pretty dresses to sit around at home periodically too--they can't just waste away in the closet (or attic).
I love the neckline of that dress, its gorgeous!
Im just starting to look for my grad dress now, Im hoping to find something in emerald green as well.
Cute blog. Could we link up?
Dressing up is the best, it stops boredom and who doesn't like some fantasy in their lives? Haha. By the way I'm officially linking you if you don't mind.
i absolutely adore the colour!
ooh have we not already exchanged links? CRIMINAL
I am in the exact same mindset as you! When I have nothing better to do , which was basically my entire break, I would go into my room and try on weird outfits. Its highly entertaining, so I don't think its weird to slunk around in ancient satin, not at all.
Beautiful color on a stunning dress!
As with many other ladies here, I also often take out one of my many vintage dresses (thanks ebay!) and parade around the apartment in it. (Scaring the cats.) I've really got nowhere else to wear them to. Sometimes, in the summer, I force the bf to take me for ice cream and a walk on the boardwalk just so I can be all 50's like.
Anyhow, gorgeous dress, stunning color. Lucky gal!
I love that movie!! Bye Bye Birdie, I mean.
I slink around my room in weird clothes too, hahaa.
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