Throwback Thursday #53 – It’s A Formal Affair

Welcome back to Throwback Thursday.  Head over to Lauren’s blog to see what she has in store for us.

This week’s prompt is: It’s a Formal Affair

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In the country, there were not many occasions to dress formally. We all had “Sunday go-to-meetin clothes” which were the clothes we wore to church on Sundays.  But when Easter rolled around, we all got fancy clothes. For girls, that usually meant spring colors, patent leather shoes, new white socks with lace around the top, and on the rare occasion, an Easter bonnet!

Easter Morning with my grandparents. Mom is holding me. My sisters dressed alike although they were not twins! My brother in a suit coat.

I will say that the high schools did have beauty pageants. Almost all the girls participated. It was a chance to get all gussied up and wear a formal gown, including elbow length white gloves. Both my sisters were in beauty pageants, but we moved before I was in high school. I cannot imagine myself participating.

I wrote a post about my first occasion to wear a formal gown. I went to a DeMolay dance with my boyfriend. It was a sweet memory to write about and I went into great detail about the dress I wore. If you are a sucker for a story about young love, you might enjoy reading it – just follow this link.

The second time I wore a formal gown was when I attended my senior prom. I have a photo somewhere, but it is hideous. I had a new boyfriend by this time. My girlfriend and I decided to go to a salon and have our hair done. Marilyn had short hair and she had it curled with daisies nestled into each curl. I had long, board-straight hair so there was no way it was going to hold curl. The top half of my hair was put up on my head, teased within an inch of its life. (Teasing hair is a process where you comb a portion of the hair into the scalp to build volume.) The back portion of my hair was curled in long ringlets. Half way through the night, it was all falling down.

My dress was a long pale green empire waist formal, with a sheer over dress. It was sleeveless but I wore elbow length white gloves. Our high school rented a local country club for the after party. We ended up leaving around 3:00 am and going to a local 24 hour donut shop.

My daughter has photos from my marriage to her father. I wore a long white dress (not a wedding gown) with a bolero jacket with feathers on the sleeves. It was quite feminine and quite beautiful.

When hubby and I got married, I wore a simple long gown – the color was called candlelight. It was actually a pattern dress which cost me next to nothing. I was quite pleased with the find.

We have had several occasions since our marriage to wear formal attire, but that ship has now sailed. You will most likely find me in something very comfortable these days.

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