My mom made that pink dress out of the same fabric from her bridesmaid’s dress for her sister’s wedding.
Such fantabulous memories, but I have no plans to have it vacuum packed and framed and displayed in a place of honor for generations.
My mom made that dress too. It’s gold lamé. It has a bubble skirt still stuffed with the original styrofoam packing peanuts.
Let’s hear it for 1989!!!!
So which one is being honored?
I was asked by one of you for ideas of what to do with old formal dresses. That question made me snap a picture of the pink dress hanging in my closet. The pink dress even I am not delusional enough to believe I’ll ever wear again.
Even though I was so proud of it. Even though I received compliments galore on that beautiful evening in 1990. Even though it was one of the rare times I shared my mother’s satisfaction over wearing something completely different from what anyone else would/could wear. (Her argument for not buying clothes in stores.)
It was a prom dress. And prom dresses, historically, are things worn one time. For one occasion. That we stress over and plan for and spend money on and then forget unless we’re gazing at the pictures.
For the first five years, we smile at the pictures.
After that, we laugh.
It’s the way things go.
So what DO you do with these dresses?
Well, it’s my opinion that the one in my daughter’s dress up box is being appreciated more than the one hanging in my own closet. It’s getting worn. It’s being modeled by girls who come play at our house. It provides joy.
The one in the closet? I generally don’t even see it, and when my brain does register its presence, the all-too-familiar UGH feeling takes over my body and I wonder what in the world I’ll ever do with it.
So, after I snapped the picture, I took it out of my closet and put it in my daughter’s closet.
It’s hard to find dress up clothes for pre-teen sizes. Maybe that’s because girls that age are supposed to play in their moms’ old formals.
So snap a picture and post it for sale in your local Facebook swap group. When/if it doesn’t sell, give it to a girl who has outgrown her princess dresses.
Note to Self: If we ever purchase a formal dress with plans to resell, resell it within the next two years.
Another place to get rid of old formals: Theatres. As a former theatre teacher, I loved having old formals to re-work for plays. Ask your local schools or theatres if they’d like to have them, offer for free on FB groups or Craigslist, or honestly, just donate them. As a theatre teacher, I loved finding stuff like this in thrift stores.
Podcast (aslobcomesclean-comfeeddailyaudioblog): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Podcast listeners click here.