Some things in a storage bag are just fabric, and some are a whole spring night from decades ago. Angie, who posts as @angiebatis, shared on social media that she thinks she is finally ready to get rid of the prom dress she wore forty years ago. Then she unzipped the bag, and the plan started to fall apart in the sweetest way.
@angiebatis
Her question was simple. Why is a dress so nostalgic? The answer, as she tells it, comes with a small town, a seamstress, a pile of rhinestones and a boy she is still married to.
The Boy Who Became Her Husband
Angie says she started dating the young man who would become her husband the summer before their junior year of high school. That made the dance in her story their junior prom. She went to Bear River High School in Tremonton, Utah, and she says she and her husband were the exact same age. Like many girls in that era, she says, she had dreamed of prom for years.
Back in those days, she explains, it was the thing to have your prom dress made. She chose to have hers sewn by a local seamstress. According to Angie, if that seamstress made your dress, it was going to be something special.
A Red Dress Sewn Piece By Piece
Angie was a cheerleader, and the school colors at Bear River were red and white, so red was the obvious choice. She says she remembers sketching out the design herself, then sitting down with her mom and the seamstress to talk it through. There were multiple fittings before the day she finally went to pick it up. She says she felt like a princess in it.
She also pulled out a second dress for the camera, a pink one with little pink hearts from tenth grade that has turned yellow with age. Her daughter is grown now with children of her own and does not want it. That one, she seems fairly comfortable letting go.
Then came what she called the big reveal. The garment bag, she says, has survived a few moves since 1986. The dress inside is the one from April 1986, forty years ago by her count. She describes what the seamstress built: sleeves she remembers being called rose sleeves, accents of red and purple, lace sewn on by hand, and little rosettes along the bottom. Every rhinestone, she says, was sewn on by hand. Under it all went a big hoop skirt, which was the style that year.
At the final fitting, Angie says, she decided she wanted a bow. So the seamstress made a big one to sit on the back of the dress. She guesses the whole thing cost somewhere between two and four hundred dollars, though she says she plans to ask her mom how much she really paid. Whatever the number, she calls it handmade, every bit of it.
The Scrapbook That Settled It
By the time she reached the scrapbook, the decision was basically made. Angie says she has loved scrapbooking since grade school, and her prom pages are all there. She points out the prom picture, and says she wanted her date to wear a white tux so badly that he went along with it, which she thought was good of him. She also teases him about his mullet. The theme, she says, was These Dreams. There are photos of the limo, of the two of them leaving the house she grew up in, and of him putting the corsage on her wrist.
She says she has been married to that same man since 1989, and she did the math out loud on camera: about thirty seven years. They have three kids and now six grandkids. She says they used to fight like cats and dogs, and still kind of do, but they love each other. In the end she decided she is not ready to part with the dress, mostly because she is still with the person she went to prom with.
She closed by asking people whether they still have their prom dresses, whether they are still married to their prom dates, and whether she should get rid of it, yay or nay.
How To Decide What To Do With An Old Formal Dress
Angie’s dilemma is one a lot of people face when a closet or a storage unit fills up with sentimental clothing. A few general ideas can help you decide without regret.
First, separate the dress from the memory. A garment can be a trigger for a beautiful night, but the photos, the corsage, the ticket stubs and the stories are what actually hold the memory. If you can keep the paper memories safe in an album, the dress itself may feel less urgent. If the dress is the memory, as it seems to be for Angie, there is no rule that says you have to clear it out.
Second, think about how it is stored. Vintage and handmade gowns are fragile, especially ones covered in beads, rhinestones and hand sewn lace. Textile conservators generally suggest keeping them clean, dry and out of direct light. Plastic bags can trap moisture and may yellow fabric over time, so many people prefer a breathable cotton garment bag or a box lined with acid free tissue. Attics and garages swing too hot and too cold, so a closet in a climate controlled part of the house is usually safer. Heavy beaded gowns often do better stored flat than hanging, because the weight can stretch the shoulders.
Third, consider the in between options. If you cannot wear it and cannot bear to toss it, you could display part of it in a shadow box, frame a small piece of the fabric next to a prom photo, or turn a piece of the bow or lace into a keepsake. Some people hand a dress down to a granddaughter to try on for fun, and some donate it to a theater group, a school drama department or a vintage shop where it will be worn again. If you do donate, ask first whether they accept formalwear so it does not end up in the wrong place.
Fourth, remember how sewing history works. Hand made gowns from small town seamstresses are getting harder to find. Decades ago it was common for a family to pay a local dressmaker, and the result was often built to last far longer than a store bought dress. That craftsmanship is part of what makes a garment worth keeping, and it is one reason vintage fans pay attention to inside seams, linings and hand stitching.
Finally, if you love scrapbooking the way Angie does, consider adding a page about the dress itself. Write down who made it, what it cost, the year, the colors and the story of the bow. Details like those fade faster than fabric, and a future grandchild may be glad to have them.
Why This Story Landed
The story is easy to relate to because it is not really about a dress. It is about a couple who were teenagers in 1986 and are now grandparents, and who still have the evidence in a bag that has survived several moves. The dress is red, her date wore a white tux, and the marriage that followed has lasted close to four decades by her count.
Whether you keep your own prom dress or send it off to a new life, the better question may be the one Angie hinted at. Does it still make you smile when you open the bag? If the answer is yes, that might be your answer.
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