All Wrapped Up

My junior year in high school, I was invited to the winter formal. I decide that I wanted to make my dress, and my mom and I spent hours trying to decide on a pattern. I was stubborn and insisted on a strapless style. My mom was not happy with my choice, but in the end, relented.

I spent hours and hours working on the dress. Then the week before the dance, I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled. I was pretty out of commission for a few days as I recovered.

The day of the dance arrived, and my dress wasn't done. I spent the day frantically trying to finish it. I finally got the last stitch in about an hour before my date was set to arrive. I had yet to shower and get ready, so I was in a bit of a panic. I quickly tried the dress on to make sure it fit properly. To my horror, the top of the dress was about 3 inches below where it should be to cover up "the ladies".

My mom could have very easily said "I told you so" or "Too bad, you'll have to wear something else in your closet". But she didn't. Instead, she very calmly told me to go get in the shower and she'd figure something out.

I came out, and discovered my mom had made a gigantic bow to put on the top of the dress.

Not only did it cover me up, but I LOVED it. It made the dress unique and different than what most of my friends were wearing, and it seemed to finish off the dress perfectly! I put the dress on and literally minutes later, my dashing date arrived to pick me up.

For years, I've looked back at this picture and laughed. In hindsight, it's pretty hideous, and I have a hard time believing I loved it so much. But it was 20 years ago...and styles have changed, right along with my taste in clothes.

Imagine my surprise when I recently came across a photo of Rosie Perez on the red carpet of some celebrity event sporting a dress with a humongous bow!

I imagine that Rosie's was placed there intentionally, not as a last ditch effort to provide just a smidge of modesty! While I won't jump to say that the bow is back in style, it did bring back some pretty funny memories.