JS PROM 2: The Girl in the Pink Gown

http://www.flickr.com/photos/79874304@N00/115160456

wrote this last February 22, 2010.

Did you know that I wore a gown during my Junior and Senior Promenade?

Weeks before the event, my mother and I bought THE PROM GOWN: Its color is pink, my favorite color. It had flower designs on both arms. Needless to say, it’s a so super-girl pink gown.

But during the time of buying, I was hesitant; it wasn’t the same type of dress that my classmates were looking into the Vogue and Cosmopolitan back issues they scanned during recess and lunch (and during class). Some even brought their dresses in school; the semi-formal types. So I was kind of expecting that I would also wear the same type of dress. But maybe because my excitement was now as high as my classmates, I never bothered to ask.

It was the prom night. As planned, my aunt and my cousin (a professional make up artist) stayed overnight in the house in time for the event. The two of them (plus my mother, who went on a day leave) were excited for me. They couldn’t stop talking about their own JS Prom experiences (I couldn’t recall the event’s name before). In a few minutes, I was made up. During those minutes, I kept on looking at the pink gown.

I was still hesitant: should I really wear you? I almost said loudly to the pink gown. Since it didn’t really answer (I would have somehow listened its take on the issue), I slipped it in from my feet, went out of the house, go in our owner-typed jeep, and went on the way to school. My mother accompanied me.

When I arrived at the school, I saw some of my classmates. They weren’t able to say “hi” immediately; they were not looking at me. Instead, they were looking at what I was wearing. The reactions signaled one thing: I’m not in the norm. They were wearing the same type of dress; I was wearing the pink gown. I LOOKED DIFFERENT.

All of a sudden, I sensed that the pink gown has just begun to make headlines.

I was already thinking of going back inside our vehicle, go back to the house and get whatever I could rummage from our cabinets. Never mind if I’ll be late for the prom; I just wanted to get out of the pink gown.

But my mother said gently, “Go inside. Don’t be bothered by what you’ll hear and see. This is your night as well. Enjoy.” Those comforting words were just reassuring. And so I started to walk slowly inside the school. Although still with hesitation, I braved the walk; what do they care, anyway? This Prom is MY Prom, too!

I was intending to spend the whole program sitting on my chair (which was covered by the pink gown). But because my friends’ reassurance (and persistence), I stood up, went to the dance floor, and danced the night away. I had fun; I was myself; I was confident. I didn’t have a care in the world!

Indeed, the night I was in the pink gown taught me lots of lessons.

Since then, my mother and I started to take a look at magazines first and checked the attire on every program invitation we got.

True friends who would stick with you are hard to find, and if you find them, treasure them with all your heart. I still do communicate with those friends until now.

I have also started to defy fashion norms when it comes to expressing myself; I became one of the sought-after good dressers wherever I go, and I have made it a point to look and feel good.

But the most important thing was that the pink gown taught me to never be afraid of anything.

Do I regret to be known as the girl-in-the-pink-gown during the JS Prom? No. Truth is, the girl has started to make headlines on her own.