The Dress That Changed My Life.

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 21^st 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.”