When I first
went to sister Uzo for measurements, I had a vivid picture of what the dress
would look like. Of course the bride had a picture to show us. Since it’s her
wedding she chose color champagne for our dresses which suits the black and
white theme well.
The bride is
my dearest cousin and I am one of her
bridesmaids and this is the very first time that I will be a bridesmaid.
Excited, I am. See I couldn't go to my matric dance out of choice and last year
on my 21st I didn't have a birthday party out of my choice again. So
I denied myself the teenage hood right of wearing an evening gown.
So the first and last time that I wore an
evening gown was back in 2010. I was in my gap year and out of boredom I
decided to enter Miss Cloverden beauty pageant which was a disaster. I came
second princess and there were no prices for us, not even a sash. That’s how
scantily organised it was. The dress I had worn was something hired.
I consider myself to be a very classy person
and I promise myself that when I earn more than I need I will have as many
Cavalli, Chanel, YSL evening gowns to wear even when I’m just relaxing in my
posh mansion.
There’s
something about evening dresses that whispers class and sophistication and I
long for that. So after doing my measurement for the bridesmaid dress I was
averse to be excited because I am hardly a fan of weddings.
Two months later the dress was ready for
fitting and the first thing I said when I saw it was, “this is the essence of
my body.” With my Naomi Campbell skinny
size 30 figure and my 1.78 frame I hurried to change into it. The strong silk
that touched my body with delicacy put a smile on my face and made me feel like
I was wearing the same lace Cleopatra wore. The net beneath the umbrella of the
dress called me to safety. The corset lace made me feel French, ala Coco
Chanel.
The color of
the dress couldn't be any fitting to my moment of growth. A color close to
white which is purity, a color of tranquility. I instantly felt like a real
princess from those Cinderella stories. It made my body sway and float in the
air. I felt free in it. Free from the repressions of teenage hood. I felt like
I was in an instigation to womanhood. It was as if I can just fly to any place
in the world and be me and beautiful. It reminded me that I am a young woman
who under the vulnerability is free.
That dress, made me feel like a queen who can
be and do whatever she desires. In that dress I felt like the person I want to
be. I wanted to wave like the queen of Britain. I needed a red carpet. I saw a
red carpet in my sharp imagination and I was the queen of my own jungle, filled
with love, power and grace. A strong queen
who lives to love and give. Who lives to advance her spiritual-self to achieve closeness
with God. In that dress I saw a me that is, that is to be. I saw my dream of
being more and living in abundance. I saw the beauty of life. I was Lady Khumalo in that dress, till Uzo
disturb me by saying, “well you can take it off now, I need to alter it and fix
the zipper then you can collect it before the wedding day.”
