Well, I'm officially old. I was already feeling sort of old this evening, because I'm eBay shopping for black concert t-shirts. My beloved Thrill Kill Kult and NIN and Alice in Chains t-shirts have literally disintegrated, and I need more of them.
Then I read this article, and now I feel really old, because my first reaction was, "No way in HELL would a daughter of mine wear this." And I don't even have a daughter.
This prom dress is so skimpy, even the designer's CEO wouldn't let his teenage daughter wear it. But the dangerously revealing gown, prominently advertised in Seventeen Prom, YM Prom and Teen Prom, and on sale in a Midtown shop, is a top seller for the company this season.
"I was shocked when I first saw it, but now it's one of our top 20 dresses nationwide," says Nick Yeh, the CEO of Xcite, the Stafford, Texas, company that designed the dress and some 200 other styles this season. "I have a 15-year-old daughter and, no, I would not recommend she wear this dress. As a businessman," he adds, "I'm not judging what a teenager should wear or not wear. It's up to the parents to decide for their own children."
Nice cop-out, dude. Just admit that you're making clothes so scanty that double-sided tape and parental permission slips are required (pepper spray would come in handy, too). So what if your own daughter doesn't wear them? Obviously, you think it's just fine if someone else's daughter does.
It's too early to tell how many girls in New York City will buy the dress, but those who do may have a hard time getting through the prom door. While it's up to individual school administrators to rule on prom fashions, the Board of Education maintains a disciplinary dress code that prohibits "wearing clothing or other items that are unsafe or disruptive to the educational process."
Lisa Maffei-Fuentes, principal of Christopher Columbus High School in The Bronx, bans "anything that resembles the famous [green Versace] J.Lo dress. I personally have to check every dress," says Maffei-Fuentes. "Breasts must be entirely covered and there should not be any cutouts in the bodice.
"On the night of the prom, we have chaperones at the entry looking at every dress. We also provide needle, thread and pins to close up holes and fix dresses to the appropriate length," she says.
Good for them. I'd back 'em all the way if they went even further and sewed several yards of muslin onto any girl who had parents dumb enough to pay $495 for this ridiculous dress. They ought to send the bill for the thread and muslin to the parents while they're at it.
What's so very sad is that this sends a message to teenage girls, and that is: This is what is sexy, desirable, classy, and "grown-up." Unfortunately, some of them will have parents clueless enough to second that notion. When a prom dress advertisement has to use a model over 18 years of age - otherwise, the photographer would be skirting the edge of child pornography laws - something is very, very wrong.
(Hat tip: Right Thinking From The Left Coast.)
Update: Reader John Stark notes that the Post photo in fact features the dress being worn backwards. According to the link he provides, he's right about the reversal, and probably right with the theory that this was done just to drum up publicity about the dress. The possibility remains that the dress isn't very clearly marked as to front vs. back, though, and perhaps some stores were marketing the reversed version.
That much said, the true frontal design isn't exactly modest, especially if a young girl is well-endowed. When the dress is worn correctly, it doesn't make my jaw drop - but it's still inappropriate for the prom.
Wizbang also caught the trick. His comment section features a discussion about whether or not the dress is actually on backwards, by some readers who have obviously been (ahem) studying the photos of the models far too long, and far too closely.
Posted by kswygert at January 24, 2005 07:37 PM