I learned that these two are in drama together, and watching them in the shop, it wasn’t at all hard to believe. They were drama queens in the very best sense of the word, and their cute personalities came through loud and clear:

They went straight to their dresses. I’ve rarely seen girls have such an easy time finding dresses, and they chose really well:

Once they chose their dresses, they had all kinds of fun playing with the jewelry, hair accessories, shoes, and handbags. It was a joy to watch them and listen to them talk.

Smart boys, who asked these girls to go to Prom – you can’t look at these two and imagine having anything but a GREAT time!

When girls find the right dress, they smile – and this girl was smiling big:

It was a great dress for her. The blue popped her big blue eyes. The fit was perfect and flattered her pretty figure just right. Only one problem – the dress was way too long. What do do about that?

Well, first we put added a big pouffy slip. (A pouffy slip will lift dresses up 1-2″.)

Still not enough. I asked if she would like to have little puffs pinned into the skirt. She said fine, so we went to work. The puffs changed the character of the dress, but she liked it even better with them.

By now, the dress was taking on a decided princess air, and we couldn’t resist adding gloves and sparkle. Wow, look at her now!

The hardest part about the whole thing was getting her to take the dress back off.

She’s gorgeous, and she knows it. I think someone’s going to have a lot of fun at Prom!

It was hilarious, because without even planning it, they kept coming out in dresses that were kind of coordinated.

First they came out in dresses that each had silk flowers on them:

Then they came out in pastel, springtime dresses with classic princess seaming:

Next, it was two white dresses (stunning!):

But in the end, they chose dresses that are as different as night and day:

These two chatted and laughed the whole time, highly amusing their mom and me. When they chose their dresses, the sister in the dark dress announced that her sister looked like the good princess, and she looked like the evil queen:

They decided that they would find a nice, ripe, red apple and take a picture of the “evil queen” giving it to the “good princess” on Prom night.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen girls have as much fun as these two were having!

A good dress deserves a good twirl:

She thought the tiara was funny:

How shall I wear my hair?

“Go big or go home!”

These two were just delightful to wait on. I only have one regret: that I didn’t get a picture of them with their Mom, who was just as cute and funny as they were.

Thanks, y’all, for coming into the shop!

I don’t talk to a lot of boys in the ModestProm rental shop. But I do talk to a lot of moms and girls. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of stories. All of them point in the same direction as far as boys are concerned. It’s really pretty simple:

Boys like it when you are comfortable and happy in your dress.

When you are comfortable and happy, then they can be comfortable and happy too, and everyone can have fun. Boys aren’t always aware of details. But they are aware of how you feel and how you are acting, and that’s what they tend to care about most.

For example, look at the picture. The boy swooped her off her feet by surprise. Do they look like they’re having fun? Sure! Would they be having as much fun if the dress was skimpy and skin-tight? I don’t think so! He probably wouldn’t have dared to pick her up, for fear of what her dress might do.

I’ll never forget the following story, which a mom told me years ago.

Her son came home from Prom, and when she asked how it went, he immediately announced, “I didn’t like her dress.”

“What didn’t you like?” the mom asked. “I don’t know, I just didn’t like it,” the son replied.

“Well, what did it look like?” the mom probed. “I don’t know,” the son answered.

“What color was it?” she asked.

Her son couldn’t tell her.

This is what the mom finally got out of the boy: The girl had been fussing and picking at the dress all night. She was focused on the dress and uncomfortable. It wasn’t any fun for anyone. And so, the boy didn’t like the dress – even though he didn’t even know what color it was!

If you are uncomfortable, chances are your date won’t like your dress.

Boys don’t like it when they have to worry about your dress. For example, if your dress is low-cut in the front and a boy has to worry where he can look when he talks to you, that’s uncomfortable. If your dress is low-cut in the back and he has to worry about where he can put his hand when you dance, that’s uncomfortable. If your dress is short and tight and you can’t move in it easily, that’s uncomfortable. If he has to worry about where your dress will go when you raise your arms so he can twirl you, or what your dress might do if he dips you, that’s uncomfortable. If he has to worry about controlling his thoughts when he looks at you, that’s very uncomfortable for a boy who has been taught to be chaste.

Boys don’t like it when they’re embarrassed or uncomfortable any more than you do. Like you, they want to relax and have a great time. When that is happening, then they will generally like your dress.

The point of the dress is that the dress isn’t the point. 

Of course you want to choose a dress that makes you feel beautiful. But the best way to be beautiful is to be happy. You’re most beautiful when your eyes are sparkling and you have a big smile.  So choose a dress that makes you happy, one that’s flattering and modest and worry-free. Then forget about the dress. Focus on your date, your group, and having a great time.

If you can do that, your date will probably like your dress – even if he can’t tell his mom what color it was.

Girls stand in their dress,  trying to take cell phone pictures and asking me what color I’d say the dress is. Occasionally, we take a small snip from the end of a tie, if the dress laces up. People have talked about bringing crayons and paint chips to match their dresses (although no one’s done that yet).

Trying to coordinate the dress and tux isn’t always as simple as it seems like it should be – especially because boys and girls often think about things differently.

I laughed when I read the following, taken from a Facebook post titled “Man Rules” by a guy named Gavin Cross:

“All men see in only 16 colors, like Windows Default Settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.”

In my experience, this rings true: Generally, boys are not as attuned to the fine details as girls are. Especially when it comes to a girl’s dress.

A customer once picked out a beautiful green dress with a purple sheen. The dress was iridescent, and changed color in the light. Her date asked what color her dress was. “Purple and green,” she said. Whereupon he asked, “You mean like Barney?” (Which is a perfectly reasonable question, if you think about it.)

Another time, my daughter changed her mind about her dress. First she was going to wear blue. But then, just a few hours before the dance, she wanted to wear pink. “Do you think my date will be mad if I change my mind?” she said. “Heck no,” I answered, “Just as long as he knows you don’t care if the flowers don’t match.” She called, and sure enough, he didn’t care. He dutifully brought blue flowers, of course, but they actually looked quite pretty against the pink dress (maybe prettier than pink would have been.) I put their picture up on the website, and the next mom and daughter who came into the shop asked, “Is there a trend towards not matching flowers any more?”

In the end, it doesn’t really matter if things aren’t perfect. If you’re really concerned about it, however, tell his mom or have your date tell her what color your dress is: She knows what colors peach, pumpkin, and mauve are.

The short answer is this: “Wear the dress that makes you happiest. Just make sure it’s modest and will stay modest throughout the evening.”

I can always tell when a girl is uncomfortable in a dress: she will stiffen up, and she will unconsciously pick at the part of the dress she doesn’t like. On the other hand, when a girl likes a dress, she will relax, start smiling, and often begin swishing the skirt – if not outright dancing around the shop!

The long answer has a bit more to it.

Nationwide, the trend is towards shorter dresses. This is especially true for less-formal dances such as Homecoming, Christmas, and Sweethearts. But it’s even a strong trend for Prom.

One factor for most girls is what the other girls in their particular group are wearing. Most girls don’t want to be the only one in their group wearing a short or a long dress. But as long as at least one other girl in the group is wearing what they’re wearing, they feel more comfortable.

Different schools sometimes have different trends. At some schools, short is more in vogue; at others, more girls are wearing long dresses. You can get a good idea of what your school is like by looking at your friends’ Facebook pictures (from what I can tell, almost everyone posts their dance pictures on Facebook).

Here in Utah County, where my shop is located, we tend to be a bit behind the national trends. For Homecoming 2011, most of the dresses I rented were still long dresses.

If you do choose a short dress, please be sure it’s long enough to stay modest through the whole evening.

The short dresses that seem to be in style right now are cocktail-style dresses that are strapless and designed to hit about 4″ above the knee. These dresses are especially impractical for vigorous dancing. If you can’t move your arms or bend over without worrying about the neck, dancing won’t be fun. When you raise your arms, your dress is going to go up at the hem, and if it’s already too short, this won’t be good. If your date is going to bend you across his knee, you don’t want to have to worry about the dress riding up at the bottom or about becoming uncovered at the top. (One mom recently shared a story with me of watching a beauty pageant in which a body part popped out of a strapless dress during a dance number!)

Here is one final thought of my own: You won’t get many chances to really dress up in your life. Once high school is over, the time of big pouffy ballgowns is mainly over as well. So I say – Dress up as much as you want! If short is your style, great. But if you really want to wear a long dress with a big pouffy dress and bling it up – go for it!

Wow. My eyes were opened!

I knew that short dresses are the trend. I just didn’t realize how short many of those dresses are!

I did see a few dresses that I thought were appropriate. But most of what I saw was very short, strapless cocktail dresses. They were clearly meant to show cleavage on the top and reach to about mid-thigh on the bottom.

“They’ve got this mixed up,” I thought. “The neckline is low and the hem is high!”

So then I got to thinking. I live in one of the most conservative places in the United States (central Utah). If the dress selection here is problematic, what’s it like in other places? And if the only thing in the store is skimpy cocktail dresses, what do you do?

Well, I’m not 100% sure how to answer that. But I do have a few ideas, based on my sewing expertise and my experience in the shop.

Most of the little cocktail dresses are about 4″ too short on the average girl. I can think of three ways to get more length at the hem:

1. Many of the dresses have at least two layers on the skirt. You can make ruffle out of tulle (netting) and sew it on to one of the underlayers so that it peeks out from under the top layer. (This is actually a fairly popular design feature, too.)

2. With bubble dresses (those that have an outer layer that is gathered and attached to an inner skirt), you can detach the outer layer from the inner layer so the outer layer hangs straight. This will usually work with the design of the dress, and it will give you an additional 4-6″ of length.

3. Some of the cocktail dresses have pickup points (bunched material on an outer layer that is tacked to an inner layer to make a pouf). You can clip the stitching at the pickup points so that the dress hangs straight. This will also give you some additional length.

As to the bodices: Avoid anything that dips in the middle. The dip will almost always be a problem, modesty-wise.

The standard easy “fix” for a strapless dress is to wear a bolero jacket. Sometimes, however, the neckline will still be about an inch too low. In this case, many girls are wearing layering shirts underneath. Not the most sophisticated solution, but one that often works.

There you have it. In my opinion, it’s always best to start with a fully-modest dress. But when this isn’t feasible, some of these ideas may help.

Look at the elegant outfit this Mom picked out for a Military Ball.

This Mom has three kids, including a baby. She stopped by after a long shift at work. If she looks this great now, imagine how she’ll look when she’s had time to primp and fix her hair and put on her makeup!

Dressing up is fun for everyone! That’s why we have modest formal dresses for everyone, including Moms.

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Update, 9/19/11:

Look how stunning she was!

That’s what a mom said as we were wrapping up her daughter’s dress rental today. I was glad to hear it, because choosing an outfit for a formal dance should be fun. I see enough girls and moms in my shop to know that shopping for a formal dance outfit isn’t not always fun. Finding a dress that’s flattering and modest, at a reasonable price, can be hard sometimes. Then finding all the accessories to complete the outfit can be time-consuming and expensive, too.

But at Modest Prom Rentals, we want you to have a different experience. We have 150+ dresses in our shop, all modest (or with a jacket to make them modest). We have real dresses for real girls – all sizes, all heights, all styles. Look at this cute girl and the great dress she found!

Once you find your perfect dress, we have lots of fun helping you find accessories to make your outfit just right: shoes, jewelry, hair accessories, and an evening bag. When you are a member of our Facebook group, the accessories are free – making your dress rental an unbeatable value!

“That was really easy … and fun!” Come on into the Modest Prom Rentals shop and we’ll show you how easy and fun it can be to choose a formal dance outfit.