So Saturday was a special day. I got to go shopping for a prom dress for my cousin Vic – or rather, I got to stand by and watch while Jess and my aunt Poppy shopped for a prom dress for my cousin Vic.
It’s a strange thing going shopping for a prom dress. In my mind’s eye, Vic is three or four years old – clearly a long way from sixteen! But I suppose there is no stopping the march of time, and Vic is now sixteen – meaning it’s time for a prom dress.
First stop was this place in Westmount on Sherbrooke. The first thing you realize about going prom dress shopping is that whenever you walk into one of these stores, there is a rug full of boots (at least in the winter). Unbeknownst to me, there is an unwritten rule about prom dress places – THY MUST REMOVE THY SHOES OR FACETH THE WRATH OF THE PROM GOBLINS. I don’t like taking off my boots for anybody, let alone for some crazies who think $600-$900 for a dress is a reasonable thing to charge for prom. So you can imagine how eminently pleased I was when I was instructed to remove my boots upon entering the white-tiled (faux marbled) store, full of over-priced robes de soirée of all colours…
The prom goblins at this establishment were particularly rude… The psycho-madam-esque uber goblin and her underling were simply not up to acceptable snuff… So we departed this dress den and went downtown.
Jess and I at our respective senior proms
Finding a snow mountain on which to park on (thanks City of Montreal – nice job on the snow removal in the downtown core…), we went to this place on the corner of Peel and Sherbrooke. Really nice people inside, with great service and (good prices too!). I forget the name, but Jess will tell you if you ask her. But their prom collection doesn’t come in until end of January.
One thing you should now about my cousin Vic – if she’s got something on the brain, get out of the way…!
So off to Laval we went. Jess and I had some errands to run, but Vic was determined to find herself a dress. She and my aunt ended up finding the perfect dress at a place called O! Lala! in Laval (Ste-Dorothée, at the Mega Centre, next to the Pharmaprix in case your wondering). Vic called us up, and asked us to join her… So we went over to see her try on the dress.
As we arrived, guess what we had to do…. TAKE OFF OUR BOOTS. In the middle of winter – take off our boots. Thank goodness she found a dress, ’cause I was getting pretty damn annoyed at having to take off my boots to walk into these stores. Apple doesn’t ask me to take off my boots. Why do prom dress places DEMAND that I do so?
But, as we walked into the store and saw Vic in her beautiful dress, all the vitriol and anti-prom dress store adjectives I could think of simply evaporated, and left me in a mushy lump of adoration over how my cousin has grown up so fast.
I asked the owner what she had in the turtleneck, or Irish sea captain sweater department, but I was promptly over-ruled by a chorus of “NO!” from each of Jess, Vic and Poppy.
I then offered to staple the back of Vic’s dress to the straps that cross-cross across her back, but was once again over-ruled. Not sure why, it’s a nice staple-gun… And I’m handy enough – ask Jess, I put up curtains the other day.
Haute-couture, here I come!
