ANNNNND, I’M BACK!!
Hey Y’all,
So I know every year I say, "I'm done with prom" blah blah blah, and at this point, it sounds like a marketing scheme. But it's really not. I genuinely want to move on from prom and explore other facets in my fashion field. Plus, the girls don't really want originality; they want the dress that went viral LAST YEAR. They want exact replicas of whatever picture they show me, they don't trust the process, and sometimes, the parents don't either. Imagine how disheartening that could be; it's a creativity killer.
If I were in it for the money, then sure, I'd keep going and doing things I don't enjoy doing. But I do this because I love it! If I wanted to make money doing something I don't find pleasure in, I’d go back to working retail. And speaking of which, business was sooooo bad last year that I did decide to go back to work. I applied for every retail job I saw, went on interview after interview, and even with 20+ years under my belt of working retail & management, I couldn’t snag a simple retail job to save my life. I was beginning to lose hope simply because THE BILLS WERE BILLING and OnlyFans was starting to look more promising the more the bills piled up. I’m sure I could make a bag off my feet pics.
I prayed and prayed and just said, "Ok God, you clearly don't want me to go back to work, so what is it that you want me to do?" The answer was obviously, PROM. It’s the only thing that is consistent, and I knew deep down, I’d rather do prom than really go back to punching a clock and being on someone else's schedule. So here we are, Prom 2024. And surprisingly, my clients were ALL a pleasure to serve. With prom comes a lot of stress, and that's expected, but my clients really trusted the process and made this year a breeze.
But what people don't know is the stress behind the scenes…
Picture this: it’s one month before prom night, and my sewing assistant accidentally messes up not one, not two, but FOUR dresses! 😱 You can imagine my reaction—a mix of shock, panic, and a whole lot of deep breaths. Those dresses were crucial, and with the clock ticking, I had no choice but to roll up my sleeves and dive into overdrive. I couldn’t keep rescheduling my clients because I didn’t want to trigger any anxiety. So I literally had to wake up at the crack of dawn, get to the fabric stores right when they opened, recut and construct these dresses from scratch. I was on Amazon every single night, ordering extra everything just to make sure I wasn’t lacking in any area. My God, my edges are still intact, surprisingly. Not to mention, two dresses had to be deconstructed and meticulously put back together—one client fainted in her fitting, ripping the delicate mesh parts of her dress and the other just ripped her dress trying it on at her final fitting! There were late nights, countless cups of coffee, and a few tears (not gonna lie, A LOT of tear). But in the end, I made it through. Each dress was perfect, and seeing my clients' faces light up made it all worth it. I call it a character development boot camp. Whatever God needed me to go through, it had to be because of the next breakthrough and set of blessings that are on their way!
And just when I thought I could finally catch a break after prom season wrapped up, I had my last two brides to wrap up and a random rush order I took last minute (another blog entry for another day). Mind you, I’m still trying to be creative and give my brides my all and still catch my breath from the snowball effect of the prom mishaps. MY GOD!
So here we are again, prepping for prom 2025! I’m going into this season excited and ready for the girls. They wanted dresses last year, they wanted LOOKS, okay? Finally, finally I feel the creativity coming back. Plus, I have so many new things I’m introducing for prom 2025. This year is going to be totally different—stay tuned for exclusive previews, more behind-the-scenes madness, and some fabulous surprises!
P.S. If you haven’t booked your Prom 2025 consultation, I'd advise you to do so now! Spots fill up fast and to keep my stress levels down to a minimum and keep ample room for other fashion projects, I’m not exceeding my limit. Bookings close October 31, 2024, no exceptions.
Until next time……Ciao—xoxo