Last week, I introduced the first of a three-part Throwback Thursday series. My goal? To reinvent the homecoming dress — the lowliest of formalwear and the outfit voted “Most Likely to Make Us Cringe” as adults.
When I recently unearthed my three homecoming dresses (from 1997, 1998 and 2000), my first instinct was to Google Earth the nearest Goodwill donation Dumpster. Instead, I assigned myself a challenge: Could I reinvent these outfits 10+ years later? And moreover — could I create an outfit I would actually wear in public?
This week’s homecoming dress is a vintage mandarin-collared sheath in gunmetal green. I was 14 when I found it at the Fly Boutique, a South Beach vintage shop. It cost $40, and I begged my mom to front me the money — which I’m pretty sure I never paid back. (Sorry, mom.)
Back then, I styled the dress as I imagined Gwen Stefani would have worn it. My only extracurricular activity was replicating Gwen’s thrift-store style. (This was prior to the dark sartorial period I call the Harajuku Disaster.) I went as far as blow-drying my bangs into a gravity-defying bubble, and I paired the dress with velvet Frank-n-Furter platforms.
Since then, I’ve grown about 3 inches and gained an undisclosed number of pounds, so this dress is no longer an actual dress. With some light alterations and strategic tucking, voila — it is now a blouse.
Mandarin collars haven’t really been a “thing” since the Auntie Mame days, but high necklines are really having a fashion moment. (Take a gander at the high necklines in this 2014 Style.com Trend Report.)
This look is sophisticated enough for the office, while the metallic fabric jolts it from cubicle complacency. The avant-garde, shark-finned pencil skirt is an ideal waist-whittling companion, while an A-line would have added more volume and proportion confusion.
But you tell me: Was this recreation a success? Would you have paired the dress with something different?
