Charlotte Gets a New Dress
Well, the whole Huffington Post thing last week totally threw me off, because I’ve realized if BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS was real life, Winter Formal would be THIS WEEKEND!!! I’ll be posting a recap from the members of Sad Jackal next week of course, but for now picture Charlotte busy with preparations. Including admiring her new dress and shoes.
Writing the scene where Charlotte, Darby, and Gretchen all go to get their formals was really fun. Sometimes shopping for something like this can be a total drag (as Charlotte experiences at another time in the book), but other times it is truly terrific. Though it’s important to be loved and admired by who you are on the inside, wearing something that makes you feel equally as gorgeous on the outside is really empowering. For Charlotte’s shopping trip this time, I was inspired by the scene in “Pretty in Pink” where Andie is sewing her own formal, getting ready for the Prom she’s about to fiercely go stag to. Winter Formal is kind of a moment like that for Charlotte, too–a time when she is really standing on her own two feet and knows what she wants. So she needed a fabulous dress to go with that feeling!
I move down the row, past Darby and the sizes made for tiny ninth graders, past Gretchen in the sizes designed for average-framed girls, and onto the You Are Not A Water Buffalo But Don’t Push It, Honey end of the rack . . . I haven’t really thought about the formal part of Winter Formal. I can’t picture the boys in tuxes, but this isn’t going to be a jeans affair for them either . . .
“What about this one, Charlotte?”
I turn around. [Hannah] is holding up a cream-colored A-line, strapless dress, with a dark blue satin ribbon across the waist. A little ruffle of tulle pokes out from under the hem, but other than that, it’s completely smooth.
The boutique where Charlotte finds her Winter Formal dress is based on the boutique where I found my wedding dress, actually. So as a bonus for you today, here are some photos of me trying some of those on!
