you know i had to stick my mug up in here eventually! i'm practicing my prom photo smile, thought i'd say hiya.
do you remember the days when wanett of sown brooklyn was headless? hey, it happens to the best of us. those days are GONE! i do believe she could be recognized now not only by that beautiful face, but by that perky booty. i can say that because she has outright challenged me to a booty battle. (oh yes, it's on.)
apparently there were also days when our vivacious wanett was not only headless, but a bit teary...
Be The Heroine
Oh, prom. That time that each girl looks forward to. That blissful, pre-wedding dress shopping experience of dropping fuckloads of cash on a one-time-wear garment. The makeup. The manicures. The salon appointments. Those were the days......just not for this girl.
Like most things in my life, my prom going experience was not at all what I hoped it would be. I was generally unpopular with boys in that boyfriend/girlfriend way (due to my extremely overprotective family's desire for me to spend ALL of my time at home) so I didn't have a date. Dress shopping was a nightmare. Doubly so because, as the older sister, I had no one to swoop in and save me from shopping with my mother. I was allowed to get acrylic nails for the first time. Though, I was such a novice, I couldn't unbutton my pants and needed help to go pee. I was comically late for my hair "appointment". I'm misusing quotation marks to emphasize the ludicrous use of the word appointment when talking about a black hair salon. My hair was in a boring bob, anyway, thanks to the bad trim (that was really a haircut) I received at a previous salon visit.
By the time my mother and I were hurrying back home so I could make my limo on time I was a nervous, nauseous, crying mess.
Don't I look THRILLED!?!!?
I put on my boring (but quite risque for me, back then), black, spandex, one shoulder cliche of a dress, a pair of shoes I hated and a sheer button-up top because I suddenly felt shy with my one shoulder exposed. I topped it off with no makeup. At all. And dashed outside to meet the limo. Only it wasn't there.
Near tears (again) and feeling uncomfortable with everyone in my neighborhood eying me in my dress, we went looking around for where the limo might be. Remember, this is in an age before cell phones were prevalent. Just as I began to feel certain that it left me, I looked around and ALL of my friends had gotten out to come look for me! This act alone saved my mood and led me to have as fun a night as I could have with two left feet and no date, lol.
For this prom, Promaballoona 2012, things started off nearly as bad as my high school one. Due to a broken machine, new machine delivery madness, scheduling and lack of sewing mojo this prom was off the rails before it was on them. After it was all said and done I had no time to take fancy prom date like photos with my hubby. Which made me sad.
In an a massive push against that sadness and my innate tendency to procrastinate, I was up until all hours last night (July 28th) sewing not one but two PERFECT prom frocks!! As a reward for my efforts, I beat the rain as my daughter helped me with two separate photo shoots to capture my Barbie Pink and Sweet Cream frocks!
Barbie Pink
The Facts
Fabric | Sumptuous hot pink cotton sateen courtesy of Kollabora
Patterns | Vintage (1940s) Simplicity 2693 and my TNT skirt pattern, Simplicity 9823
Year | 1940s and current
Notions | Thread, a zipper and elastic. I did not interface the bodice, but it is doubled.
Time to complete | Made during an all night sewing marathon, so I'm not sure. It went together pretty effortlessly, I must say.
First worn | On a two part photo shoot with my big girl aka kick ass photographer!
Wear again? | HELL YEAH!! Try and stop me ;P
Total price | Nearly FREE!! I won the fabric, was given the elastic by my sister, the zipper from my granny, the bodice pattern is from a swap and the skirt pattern was probably .99 cents.
Sweet Cream
The Facts
Fabric | 100% cotton paisley embroidered fabric from fabric.com
Patterns | Vintage (1940s) Simplicity 2693 and Vivat Veritas' scalloped waist skirt pattern
Year | 1940s and current
Notions | Thread and a zipper.
Time to complete | Made during an all night sewing marathon, so I'm not sure. It went together pretty effortlessly, I must say. The entire dress is doubled. The fabric was slightly sheer and very lightweight. I sewed the two skirt sections together at the bottom edge, turned it right side out and pressed it. Worked like a charm!
First worn | On a two part photo shoot with my big girl aka kick ass photographer!
Wear again? | HELL YEAH!!
Total price | I don't remember what I paid for this fabric, but I can assure you it wasn't much. The bodice pattern is from a swap and the scalloped skirt pattern is free online.
I took some advice from the recently departed Nora Ephron. She said:
"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."
I saved my prom experience this time around. Snaps for me!
look out ruggy! THE LIMO IS FULL OF HEROINES!!! and we're off to grab our next one. what about you, peeps? are you sewing up your super princess heroine dress? turn that prom UPSIDE DOWN!
whoah, okay, lemme calm down. color explosion, man, it gets me amped up. i think, for our next stop, we'll let our imaginations paint the picture... see you later for cocktail hour!
What a wonderfully inspiring blog post. So touching. That's a great phrase to live by and your dresses rock. Isn't it great to just look better and better, the more you move away from damnable youth! Your daughter must be really proud.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen! That's such a nice thing to say!
DeleteWhy oh why do we hang such hopes on one particular night out of our lives, when I usually ends in disappointment. Maybe it ends up in disappointment BECAUSE we hang unrealistic hopes upon it.
ReplyDeleteI concur with Karen: you are the heroine to you family, what with getting your advanced degree, having four kids and a hubby to care for, and somehow still managing to create and look sizzlin'
(Despite what you think about your lack of teenaged appeal, I'm betting my life savings that those boys on whose laps you were reclining were frantically thinking about their grandmothers and hoping you wouldn't bounce up and down too much. COME ON! Teenage boys with a spandex clad hottie on their laps?! That's in instant wardrobe malfunction if I ever heard it!) HAHAHAHHA!
You are CRAZY, Vicki!! Those boys were NOT interested in me at all. In fact, I think all three of them had dates who didn't care that we took this pic. That's how non threatening I was, lol
DeleteThanks for making my accomplishments sound really, really grand ;o)
Oh wow, that spandex dress is HOT, as are the two more recent prom dresses! I'm so glad that Wanett now shows her face, as she is a lovely lady, both inside and out.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cindy!!
DeleteWhat Sewing Scientist said.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Vicki - and I LOVE your two fabulous dresses! You rock that sweetheart neckline - and that hot pink is just FANTASTIC. You look smashing, then and now :)
ReplyDeleteI end up getting anxious and nervous before most exciting events that require a lot of planning. I cannot even count on one hand how many times I have cried before an event because I was freaking out that I was going to be late (I hate being late). I don't know why I keep doing that - it always works out in the end. I'm glad your friends came to find you and that it all worked out in the end for you, too!
Thanks, babe!!
DeleteI still get super anxious at times. This is a trait that I have, unfortunately, passed on to all but one of my children. The girl twin doesn't do anxious :0)
Love all of these dresses! I'm so glad you've become so confident and self-assured over the years! And dude-- you could totally rock that one shoulder dress now!
ReplyDeleteOMG, it's all so dreamy. A nervous, nauseous, crying mess. It brings back so many memories. And I could swear that that is MY photo of how I felt about MY hair in high school. Except I was on the opposite coast and about 20 years older. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteFantastic story and photos, truly proving that we really don't know how beautiful we are at any given moment.
And, another excellent motto. I'm going to have to put all these on a poster to inspire me!