Formal: The Painless One

Forgive the lateness of this post and my echoing absence from the blogosphere. I have been totally absorbed with recovering from my op and getting my shoulder back. I can happily report I am now typing two handed, although it tires me, but I still need at least 10 hours sleep a night. As you can imagine, this cuts into blogging time.
ANYway, the reason this post is entitled 'The Painless One' is because there is another Formal looming (tomorrow) and we are at 'car door slamming' stage.

 Who could believe that this sweet, bonny child:

 happily sitting as the hairdresser makes her even more beautiful:

 and the make-up artist does her 'thing':

 so that she begins the night looking like this:

 is ACTUALLY an enfant terrible with an unquenchable thirst for shoes and clothes which contain less fabric than a tea towel and cost more than the annual GDP of a small African nation!????????

She did look lovely however:

 with her attentive beau (who has recently gone off travelling to Asia but that's another post!).

 It was lovely to see that they've re-introduced the quaint 'corsage' custom,

  after which we were off to the 'before' party. Yes, they have 'before' parties.

There were the obligatory poses with friends, during which I was given to wonder whether some lessons in 'choosing fashion which flatters' should be re-introduced to the curriculum.

I know, I know I sound awful but really...such pretty girls with some very unwise choices!!!

I was particularly surprised by the 'low key' nature of some frocks.

Consider the blue flapper number on the left, the greenish one next to it which reminds me of 'resort' wear, the underwhelming short silver number at the centre with Minnie Mouse shoes and the heavily patterned blue dress fifth from the right which, although I know it was her mother's and therefore sentimental, also resembled something you'd wear to the beach. And do not even start me on the sweet girl in the sofa dress (third from left).

So there you have it. I am not the nice person I pretend to be. I would secretly like to take them ALL shopping and get them lovely, appropriate dresses which do justice to their inner and outer beauty.

But aside from all that, the girls had planned ahead for the 'after party' and subsequent sleep over:

 and departed in a state of high excitement on their 'ride'.

 And that was the first Formal.

The impending event (this Saturday) has been overshadowed by the BA's all consuming need to wear something different! After all, the photos of this dress have been all over facebook!

Will the Flaming Sword survive this most recent challenge? Stay tuned to see how it plays out.

The Formal Looms

So this weekend is The Formal.
Tonight we were combing the mall for a suitable pair of earrings to compliment the dress purchased way back in March. The spray tan is booked for tomorrow as as I write she is closeted in the bathroom exfoliating her legs in preparation.
*sigh*
I remember getting ready in the boarding house and eating macaroni cheese with the boarders because my date had gone back to the US two months beforehand and I had been charged with decorating the hall. Tan? Hairdresser? Make-up artist? Pffffffffft.
Did it all myself.

Funny, come to think of it, I look pretty much the same at my wedding! Talk about lack of imagination :-D

But the lead up has not been without drama (of course, this is the Flaming Sword after all). About 6 weeks ago the BA called into my school on the afternoon of our Formal. Now let me explain that that BA attended my current school for 5 years before transferring to Alma Mater and then St Saviours. She has many good friends still at the school, and seeing them all in their Formal gear was a little bittersweet for her. After all, she could have been with them.

And then she saw one of her friends looking stunning in a gown which was a cross between this

and this.

The top was like the first one, with the ruched midriff, the skirt was more full, like the second picture. And it was green.

Now, I've got to admit, it looked stunning on the girl in question. She wore it with long gloves which really added to the elegant effect. But the BA was infatuated.

"Muuuuuuuuum. I don't think I like my dress..." she squealed as we drove home that night.
"Get over it," was my rather unsympathetic response. Remember after all that I was the one who traipsed around 40000 shops with her, rejecting dress after dress.
"But, hers is so pretttttttttty!!!!! I think I would like a full dress after all."

At this point may I direct you to this post where I had planned to have full dress made for her? And recall her concern that she mght not like it once it was made? Is it any wonder I had zero tolerance for this sudden turn around?

A few days later she texted me from a meeting with her friend in town.
"Muuuuuuum. J will lend me her dress if I want it. Can I try it on please?"
My response was curt:
"You already have a dress. Quite an expensive one if I recall..."

The nagging continued for several days. 'But why can't I just try it on?', 'O's mum bought HER a different dress; in fact she bought her THREE dresses!!!!'....

More fool her, I thought!

For goodness sake, why on Earth would you buy your 17 year old three different dresses to choose from for her Formal? And we are talking $400.00+ dresses! What message is this sending her?

What bothers me about people with this mentality is that they are often hard workers with their own businesses who have come from modest families and, through hard work, made good. Their progeny, on the other hand, have never worked for anything in their lives and grow up believing that their parents' efforts somehow entitle them to an easy ride in life. And to be fair, it is not surprising that they believe this. Three dresses?? I ask you!!!!

After a week of whining about this other dress I suggested she had three options:
1) wear the dress
2) wear the friend's dress and pay her dad and I back for the unused dress
3) (and this was inspired) wear the friend's dress but do not expect another dress for the end of year Graduation Ball and instead, utilise one of my two wedding dresses. The other formal dress would be available for wearing to another occasion in the future.

She jumped at this suggestion and quickly borrowed the friend's dress to try on. Now, I gotta tell you, on her it looked nothing. Seriously! The colour was wrong, she only just squeezed into it leaving her with an effectively bandaged chest and, being slightly beefier than her friend, the full skirt just looked limp. Regardless she took photos and emailed them to all her friends. Their response was typical 17 year old platitudes. Not one of them would tell her if she's not looking her best, for fear she may say the same to them one day!

I said nothing. I let the dress trying on and picture taking run its course and then I took her shopping for earrings. Suffice to say that the dress has been returned to the friend and she is happily looking forward to wearing the original dress on Saturday.

Pictures to follow!