I know, I know, it's early for prom, but a lot of kids have winter formals and suchlike, yes? This is just such a great dress for a formal dance, especially for younger women who crave sophistication (c'mon, we were all there once). This is an easy way to get it without being kitten dressed as cougar, if you know what I mean. The sweetheart neckline and sweet full skirt can be dressed up or down pretty easily. Add a fakey tiara and long gloves to the narrow-skirted version and you are Holly Golightly; make the full-skirted one in pink and you are Sandra Dee. (I personally would avoid the brocade version for the under-30 set, but hey, if brocade makes you happy, go for it.)
The full-skirted version would be just lovely in a pale yellow organza. Go nuts and sprinkle the bottom third of the skirt with heat-set rhinestones. You only live once …
This listing ends today, I think, so jump if you want it. Click on the image to visit the eBay auction.
A Dress A Day 
I’ve had this pattern a few years and thought the black number was cocktail ready rather than prom queen. Does one get too old for sweetheart necklines?
LikeLike
Our local paper reported that girls were buy cocktail lenght dresses for home coming balls this year. Too hard to dance in full length dress they are saying.I have great hopes for this group of young women.
LikeLike
It’s lovely that they want to dance, but most of their dresses seem to end only a few inches after their rear ends do.I would attempt to make friends with any young lady self-respecting enough to wear a dress this sophisticated. Delightful! I’d make the full skirt in a two-color ombre silk, with the darker bit around the waist — perhaps black silk, then a gentle fade to charcoal gray, then dove white! The top would be solid black silk. Gorgeous.
LikeLike
All I need is a Barbie doll figure or a set of really good undergarments to wear things like this again! With LOTS of Spandex and elastic! The young have it so easy, they don’t have to go to such extremes to be lovely in dresses like these. Sigh.
LikeLike
One is never too old for a sweetheart neckline, which is infinitely becoming!If the sun or misfortune has been unkind (since age alone these days is not sufficient reason for damaged skin), then it’s sometimes not a bad idea to have a sheer or semi-sheer bodice up to the neck, such as chiffon or lace, but I for one don’t believe that age alone is sufficient reason to not wear it.And I myself sport an Anita Blake-style scar just below the collarbone which I didn’t have last year, and I still wear necklines where it shows. I’m not thrilled about the scar, but it’s there, and I trust that the general effect of the neckline is enough to distract from the scar. And if not, too bad; the viewer can concentrate on the rest of the dress instead!
LikeLike
I love it so much, I think I’ll dump my fiance and marry this dress.There are no laws against that kind of cross-platform marriage, are there?
LikeLike
iopine:What if you combine the two and make a sweet, slightly-longer wedding dress version of the full-skirted one?Then you can have both!
LikeLike
oh so beautiful…….i love your blog but at 8 months preggers i get so depressed at what i can’t wear!!!!!!!
LikeLike
Wendy – the dress you describe sounds gorgeous!
LikeLike
My homecoming dress my sophomore year (4 years ago) had a cut very similar to the full skirted version, but I absolutely love the cocktail length black number in the middle. It is definitely more like what I would want to wear nowadays. So stunning! And yes, prom is becoming much less formal than it used to be (for both my junior and senior prom I wore dresses that were about mid-shin).
LikeLike
Hi Erin! I have a lot to say about prom dresses, and I said it hereYellow organdy with rhinestones. I can only wish . . .
LikeLike
There is a burgeoning trend around here: 13-year-olds having semi-formal birthday parties, usually in church fellowship halls. My daughter attended one and we had a heck of a time finding a dress that didn’t make her look like a hoochie. This full-skirted pattern would have been perfect.
LikeLike
love the dress to the right!
LikeLike