There's a scene in 1939's Gone With the Wind where Scarlett O'Hara, in need of $300 to save the family's plantation from ruin during the Civil War, pulls down her once-elegant house's velvet draperies.
She needs the fabric to make a drop-dead gown that she'll wear to charm wealthy Rhett Butler into giving her the money.
The drapes, a less-than-flattering shade of green, wouldn't suit just anybody. But the resulting dress is a knockout on actress Vivien Leigh.
As far as we know, the first ladies of Arkansas never had to resort to such desperate measures. At least it appears that way when viewing First Ladies of Arkansas: Women of Their Times--an elegant, evocative exhibition focusing on a group of remarkable women and the gowns they wore to celebrate their husbands' ascents to the governor's mansion--at the Old State House Museum in downtown Little Rock.
Choosing a dress for a special occasion is challenging. It might be worn only once, but photographs and videos of what we wear to legacy events will be around for a long time. A timeless, graceful image is the goal. And there is always a story behind each choice.
According to a vivid story by Helaine Williams in this newspaper's Style section on Sept. 11, Ginger Beebe (wife of Gov. Mike Beebe) accessorized her iridescent charcoal taffeta dress with a pair of white Adidas tennis shoes; she'd broken her ankle after the election and couldn't get around the inaugural ball wearing the requisite heels.
And when Betty Bumpers was about to don a gown she'd found in Dallas for husband Dale Bumpers' inaugural celebration, her sister Maggie Schaffer (Archie's mother) came in. Old State House curator Jo Ellen Maack told Helaine: "She [Betty] liked Maggie's dress better, and so she made Maggie give up her dress"--pale blue rayon with a center panel emblazoned with rhinestones, glass beads, and bugle beads, with a matching jacket--which Betty wore instead.
Like Anne Phillips McMath, Alta Faubus, Barbara Pryor, Betty Tucker, Gay White, Janet Huckabee, and Hillary Clinton (to name a few), most of us sooner or later find ourselves in need of a garment that will make us stand out. In a good way.
Celebrities and the wealthy who want to differentiate themselves from the crowd might select something amazing by British couturier Alexander McQueen who, before his death in 2010, was known for flashy and often controversial attire that merited a posthumous exhibition titled Savage Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011.
And to really get people talking, there are the fantastical creations by China's Guo Pei, who designed that jaw-dropping hand-embroidered fur-trimmed yellow cape with a 16-foot train that Rihanna wore to the 2015 Met Gala. Turns out the garment hadn't been designed specifically for the Barbadian singer-songwriter; it had been hanging around Guo's studio for three years before Rihanna's crew discovered it. If being the center of attention was Rihanna's goal, she succeeded.
The Atlantic reports that high school girls still care about proms--social media is now involved, where girls post photos of their dresses so that other girls don't blunder and get one that's identical. Several decades ago, when I attended a high school with an gigantic graduating class of nearly 1,000, that identical-dress thing was something to be feared.
I got around it when going to my junior prom by wearing a pale green bridesmaid's gown that first saw duty at my sister's wedding. It was pretty enough, but it wasn't me. When senior prom rolled around, I asserted myself in tie-dyed chiffon crafted into a unique spaghetti-strapped drama-queen Empire-waisted design by my mother and sister, both excellent seamstresses, from a McCall's pattern.
Not to be outdone, one of my best friends, a nerdy super-smart girl who seldom made much effort with her appearance, wore a metallic full-skirted dress with a halter top that revealed every inch of her back; pretty daring for the time.
We don't recall what our dates wore. Probably tuxedo jackets that matched the colors in our dresses. That's what we did then. But teenage girls are not the best at visualizing what the effect of their fashion choices might be in future decades. The style of the halter-top dress endures. My tie-dye? Not so much.
Now, fashion faux pas can be avoided with help from the Internet. There are zillions of websites offering guidance on How to Find the Perfect Dress for Any Special Occasion. Considerations include the event's degree of formality, the season, the most flattering color and shape, personal style, and getting a second opinion.
Best advice: If a little voice is telling you that a particular choice isn't appropriate, pay attention.
According to this newspaper's Jaime Dunaway, 25-year-old Bentonville-based fashion designer Alyssa Graves, who focuses on bridal and evening gowns, recently showed six of her fanciful pieces at New York Fashion Week.
"I love making special, different types of things because it's something you don't typically wear," said Graves, whose design company, A. Brook's Designs and Apparel, specializes in bridal and evening wear. "It's the way it makes you feel. It gives you confidence and makes you feel beautiful. I love seeing faces just light up. It makes my heart happy."
Although my tie-dyed prom dress didn't stand the test of time, it succeeded in making me feel confident and beautiful on my special night. I wonder if the first ladies who wore those inaugural gowns--beaded, ruched, draped, embroidered, in satin, silk, velvet, organza, and crepe, selected to make the most of an occasion that the rest of us will likely never experience--felt like that.
Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspective.
kmartin@arkansasonline.com
Editorial on 10/07/2018