OOh tell us all about your 80s and 90s ball dresses you liked SO much at the time

[KarlWrenbury]

ok me first me first
1984 I had a shot taffeta blue one, mum made it ( aaaaaaah) btu the top didnt fit really and had a frilled top, straps and a full skirt.

Then as a student i got a rather sophisticated one - plain short black velvet with a chiffon twisted style bodice.

raw silk, anyone? I had about four dresses in raw silk, was there no other material for dresses??

It was de riguer. and we so thought they were classics.

Sounds rather nice!

I also had a couple which had a sort of pencil skirt to the knee then a shorter gathered/petticoat/sticky outy skirt in a contrasting colour over that. Yucky really.

a peplum?

was I the only one?

in the early 90's i had stretch black velvet - long sleeved and sweetheart neckline - thought i was it!

then had a sort of flapper style one - again black and short with sort of bugle beads all over - loved, loved that dress.

never did the laura ashley raw silk thing though - too hunt ball for my tastes - i preferred sluttier.

More like this but not a bit stylish.

LOL tracey I did go to a lot of hunt balls back then!

I had a green shot satin one with a sweetheart neckline and sleeves. My mum made it too.

When I look at ball photos it was all black velvet top and raw silk skirts

I had a huge cream coloured off the shoulder full length one that I wore to the Berkely Square ball.
I had made it but the guy from vogue asked me all my details including 'who are you wearing' which made me stutter and laugh
I had two guys take me there - both gorgeous and I looked the absoloute dogs bollocks
(in my head)

I now realise I actually looked like a gnormous blancmange with a big head of frizzy hair.
But the guys I went with were so gorgeous - and i pulled one of them and i had fancied him for about two years.

I still shudder at the memory of an 18th I went to

taffeta a-go-go

I am still wondering who convinced me
a) that as a skinny boobless 17yo I needed a size 12
b) black looks good on everyone
c) mid-calf is a good length for an evening dress

I remember the blessed relief of entering my 20s and discovering that evening dresses could be floor length and bias cut...

I had a dress that I loved, the top part was a lovely static-inducing frilly white blouse, and the bottom half was a silky cerisse pink metallic puff ball skirt with a zillion layers of net underneath

I wore it to all the partied and thought I was Kylie

I cried when I outgrew it

(I was only about 7 though )

oh yes I had a sort of burnt orange raw silk one. I jumped in a fountain with it on and it stained my whole body
And a strapless black silk one with black lace over the top. The bones were always popping out of the top
This was C 1983 i reckon

The combination of Tartan and Taffeta....Shudder

Why you jump in a fountain?

What was it about shitty london teen balls that made everyone jump in fountains?

Dunno
It was de rigeur

I remember those bloody boned bodices, they were some sort of flat, tough woven plastic and the cut ends were so sharp they eventually sliced through the material.

at jumping in fountains...

And it was really difficult to get strapless bras back then too.

Snort at pagwatch, god yes i went to those shit ra ra balls. Before I became a goth obv when i mooched about in crushed velvet feeling misunderstood.

When i went to a Ball at Uni, i went to a 50s second hand shop - think called Razor's Edge, and got a georgeous dark red with embroidery in red on it dress. Fitted, strapless, with a full length skirt.

LOl at cd as an exuberant teen - I bet you were frigging HYPER

yy
i became a goth shortly afterwards