The Dress and I

When I was in 9th grade, I was invited to attend a gala. My first. Better still, it was in celebration of the Millenium. I happily RSVPed with a “yes,” and off I went shopping for a dress. To this day I’m not sure how I did it, but somehow I convinced two of my guy friends to come along and sit outside my dressing room as I paraded around in different gowns. And though I tested their patience with 10+ options, I knew exactly what I wanted going in: a dress befitting Deborah Kerr's character in the 1956 film “The King and I.”

In the “The King and I,” Deborah Kerr plays Anna, an American teacher hired by the King of Siam to teach his royal children English (it can be inferred from the number of students Anna has that the King definitely took advantage of his kingly status and got around). Throughout the entire movie Anna wears dresses with a very large crinolin. In one scene, sitting on the floor with her pupils, Anna becomes enveloped in the sea of her dress. The moment I saw that, I wanted to experience it.

____________Anna in the sea of her dress _____________ _______________Me in the sea of my tutu

And so it was that given the opportunity to purchase a gown, I sought one that gave me that sensation...or at least one that would come as close as it could (after all, I still wanted to be able to walk through doors without issue). I think I did a pretty bang up job of channeling Anna, no?

I bring this all up not just to show cute pictures of myself, but because a February spread in Harpers Bazaar Espanol elicited that same desire born of Anna's dresses in "The King of I".

Giselle in Karl Lagerfeld

And let us not forget the Versace Couture gown Carrie Bradshow wore in Season 6's episode "An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux." Oh how I loved that dress. *Le sigh*

The sheer girth of these dresses make them quite decadent. They demand attention and they demand space. After all, there is no way to go unnoticed when people have to part ways to make room for you to pass, is there. The girth also creates a certain protective barrier. And all the material nestled around you when you sit down? Well that's just like a big blanket. And the flounce? Oh the flounce. If I could flounce all day in one of these dresses, I most certainly would.

Perhaps the greatest feeling these dresses provide, however, is that they make you feel like a princess. After all, you weren't a Disney Princess unless you had a dress with girth.