The Real McCoy

Once upon a time... there was a girl's choice dance. I decided to go last-minute, and with no adequate dress for the occasion I turned to my stalwart friend, the DI.

The DI is one of my favorite places EVER. There is always something cheesy, hilarious, or awesome waiting for you. I needed a semi-decent dress so I browsed the racks of discarded clothes looking for something suitable.

$30 dollars later I had three dresses that I absolutely could not part with.

Dress #1 was a salmon-colored, pleated 20's dress that fell in love with, because I practically should have been born in that era. How can you argue with $5?

Dress #2 was a standard formal that looked very princessy and just needed to be cut to tea-length--my back up plan in case I wasn't brave enough for dress #3.

Dress #3 was a lacy, homemade-looking yellow dress that was certainly not your run-of-the-mill formal. Empire waist, sunshine yellow, and an abundance of lace around the neck. It looks kind of ridiculous on the hanger, but I put it on... and fell in love. (I added the ribbon later to make it match better with white.) The lace reached down to cover the shoulder and I had full range of motion in my arms--which was a huge bonus, especially since I had a tall date.

The lacy-ness of it seems like something that might have been popular in the 70's, but it didn't look unfashionable or dated. It was almost reminiscent of the Regency era, and I felt like Elizabeth Bennett wearing it.

The only real way to describe it is classy. I kind of loved it a lot.

While buying the dress I concocted this grand idea of what to wear with it, namely: a long strand of pearls and elbow length white gloves. The idea was so lovely that I couldn't just let it go, so I conceded to the (ridiculously expensive) white gloves, and it was worth it. As for pearls, I borrowed a set from my dear friend Hilary that were fabulous! I looked classy. Much love.

Cue [Frank Sinatra] music...

The date itself was grand. I went with a good friend and was able to relax, be crazy, and have one night of honest to goodness fun. He taught me a bit of country swing, and for the last song we interpretive danced to "My Heart Will Go On"--emphasis on the interpretive dance. He's kind of eccentric, and it was delightful! Delicious food, dancing, a gorgeous dress, chivalry, what more could a girl want?

P.S. For the purposes of this blog I decided to look up [slang used in the 20's]. Fantastic. I wish we still talked like this...

My favorites:

Applesauce- an expletive same as horsefeathers, As in "Ah applesauce!"
Bank's Closed - no kissing or making out - i.e. - "Sorry, Mac, the bank's closed."
Don't take any wooden nickels - Don't do anything stupid
Dry up - shut up, get lost
Ducky - very good
Flat Tire - A dull witted, insipid, disappointing date
Goofy - in love
Hotsy-Totsy - Pleasing
Jake - OK, as in , "Everything is Jake."
Level with me - be honest
Putting on the Ritz - after the Ritz hotel in Paris; doing something in high style
Razz- to make fun of
Real McCoy - The genuine article
Scram - Ask someone to leave immediately
Spifflicated - Drunk. The same as canned, corked, tanked, primed, scrooched, jazzed, zozzled, plastered, owled, embalmed, lit, potted, ossified or fried to the hat (That is just way too funny!)
Spiffy - An elegant appearance
Swanky - Ritzy
What's eating you? - What's wrong?

Pretty much, I love the 20's. And I am totally going to start saying "ducky" and "Jake."