My physical therapist and I talked about prom dresses this morning. Her son (in 7th grade) went to the school’s dance over the weekend, and she was surprised at the outfits of the tweenage girls. She described sparkly, tight-fitting dresses ending mid-thigh. But the pièce de résistance was the footwear: white tennis shoes! Whoever heard of such a thing?!?
In my day (and, I remind, it was quite some time ago), we knew how to dress for a formal occasion, and it most assuredly did NOT include white tennis shoes (mostly for me it included high-heeled shoes that were damned uncomfortable). At my 7th grade dance, I wore a white strapless (it must have been very tight around the bodice since I had nothing else holding it up) gown with little flowers around the bustline and a skirt comprising layers of white tulle. So precious; I never liked it much. I went to the dance with a boy I don’t remember. Did we dance? Who knows?
In high school, though, things were different. This was the Jackie Kennedy era, and elegance was the order of the day. Not being able to afford an original Dior (duh), I made (I know! Right?!?) a straight skirt out of white satin. It was lined with Pellon, a stiff interfacing that made it slightly puff-balled at the waist, but it fell straight to the floor. VERY elegant. The mother then found a seamstress who fashioned a halter top covered in bridal lace (that was far beyond my sewing skills). It was lovely and hung gracefully just over the waist of the satin skirt. We had a coral-colored satin cummerbund and a royal blue taffeta cummerbund; different cummerbund for different occasions. White over-the-elbow gloves completed the picture. I wore it; my mother wore it; my sister wore it. We were gorgeous, if I do say so myself.
This was also the 60’s South, and regular cotillions required more than one gown. I don’t remember if the dress code for this particular dance required it or whether I just wanted to wear it, but I borrowed a hoop-skirted gown and learned to sway in it. Mostly I remember the hoop-skirt part, but the dress fabric itself was a wispy white with purple flowers scattered through. Very pretty, very feminine. However, have you ever worn a hoop skirt? Pay attention when you sit down or else the thing will fly up in front of your face and disgrace you. You must reach down and grab the hoop at around knee level, lift it gently, and sit while maintaining your hold on it. It then settles gracefully around your chair. Practice makes perfect, but it’s quite an art.
My wedding gown was also borrowed, this time from a cousin. She and I were exactly the same size, so it made sense. It was a lovely gown, full skirted with a lacy bodice — sort of like that halter top except it had three-quarter sleeves and was attached to the dress. A beaded crown with a long tulle veil completed the picture. I was a beautiful bride, if I do say so myself.
Two gowns complete my most-favorite list. The first was bought in a vintage shop in Brooklyn. It was floor-length, made of black crepe with long sleeves. The bodice was completely plain except for a hint of white circling a rather high neckline. Sounds dismal, right? But…the back, the back! There wasn’t much to the back…at least not until your eyes found the waist where a white organdy ruffle cascaded to the floor. So elegant. It’s just that you had to turn around for people to see how elegant it was. In the bag coming with it from the shop was a postcard with a photograph of a woman wearing that very dress, but you couldn’t tell who she was because she had a lampshade on her head. However, she was clearly a bon vivant who knew how to party.
At one stage in my career, I was required to attend “functions,” mostly fund-raisers, but they were formal affairs, and my black crepe was a bit too outlandish for the stodginess of the crowd. However, I stumbled upon a beauty in JC Penny’s prom section. Form-fitting blue velvet to the floor (I had a form then), it had what I think is called a “portrait collar,” a delicately draped circle of velvet, showing enough neck that I could wear some sort of sparkly necklace (which I had fun finding). A navy blue beaded handbag was found somewhere, and those long white gloves were recalled into service. I looked like a million bucks. Just ask anybody!
My evening gown days are over, but I look back on those dresses fondly. Not as fondly as some coats I’ve owned (see blog of March 14, 2022: “I Get a Kick Out of . . . Coats”), but fondly nonetheless.
