gold at the end of the rainbow

She's found a dress! The solo dress (Irish stepdancing costume) hunt has lasted almost 2 years now. My DD (dear daughter) M has had a beautiful, used, solo dress. It's in the traditional 3-panel, heavy velvet style, green with gold sleeves, with celtic design. She got it, excitedly, from an older dance friend and classmate when M was starting in Open Prizewinner. Ever since she was getting closer to moving out of Open Prizewinner level to Preliminary Championship competition level, we've been looking more seriously at upgrading her dress. I've learned a lot in this time about dresses!

M will be dancing in solo competitions at this years Oireachtas ("regionals."), having gotten that last first place at the Comhaltas / CCE Feis late May, along with her best dance friend, L, and another dance friend from another school. M's solo dress has gotten too short and too short-waisted. The hunt became more earnest.

At the Nation's Capitol Feis this summer, we thought we found "the" dress. Oh, there are many beautiful dresses out there, but it needed to work for her tastes, and, well, it really does need to fit properly. This one hit everything we thought we were looking for, and financer Grandma approved, having seen it online with M. It is a blue and white (Dancing in Celtic) with intricate details and a great fit she just looked beautiful. M loved it, others who knew us who walked by had to exclaim and gush. Except, well, M's TCRG had to nix it. Too many other champion level (female) dancers in the Irish Dance school have a similar look / color dress. It's not just whether or not these dancers would compete with M, they also perform together often; they shouldn't look like team dresses.

So, the hunt continued. M borrowed her TCRG's own solo dress for many events, including feiseanna, and TCRG's own wedding. "You can wear this any time." She also had never once said M had to have a new solo dress, even if M's was nowhere near the latest styles, even for the Oireachtas; she even said M was fine in her Irish dance school dress in her Open Prizewinner dances, and, she was. That attitude of TCRG's has taken a lot of pressure off of us, especially as a new school dress was being fitted, made, and had to be paid for.

The solo dress hunt continued. Each feis, each dance website, had DD (and Grandma, and me) looking. We traveled to the Pittsburgh Feis, and dresses for sale came in from Chicago and New York. (And, M got 5th place, yeah! I almost didn't have us go.) The two-piece dress from Chicago looked promising, lavendar and cream, but with a white background. It was a bit snug in the waist, "popping" up the top piece. I meant to follow through after the feis to check if it could be let out, but somehow didn't. Ultimately, M said she doesn't think it brought her out as much, color-wise, as her new to her one does. I agree.

The Rhythm of Ireland Feis, however, had "thee" dress there on it's "for sale" rack. A woman had brought her DD up from Atlanta. A friend of this woman was trying to sell a solo dress, and had sent her DD's dress with this woman. M saw it, but we didn't have time for her try it right then. A bit later, some of M's dance friends were laughing and pretending to block my access. "You don't want to see this!" A dance parent even joined in. Hmmm, I thought, M must be serious about this one, and it must be expensive. I laughed, and had a look.

Wow.

M was beaming and twirling, pink and gold. A lot of gold. Some black. Gold sequins. Black underskirt and bloomers with gold polka-dots. (I realized later, ACK ACK ACK, sequins?! What were we thinking. Sequins fall off so readily and I'm not exactly one to whip out my needle and thread and, gasp, sew anything.) It fit really well, and Figures Teacher smiled, liked it for M, and told us what details to pass along to TCRG for ultimate approval, such as length above M's knees. OHBoy's dad is a photographer, and told me up front that it'd be difficult to photograph, albeit he was a dear and tried to photograph M in the gold dress while outside in "flat" natural lighting. Something about how a person's eyes can balance it but a camera........ hmmm. But, she loved it, and L got a photo on her cell phone to text to TCRG, and to Grandma. (My cell phone, well, it's a hard dress to photograph well, and it did not work out via my cell phone.) Grandma approved!, and we discussed payment.

A while later, I ran into Figures Teacher, and I told her that we hadn't heard back from TCRG yet. Figures Teacher, who was really only there a day early to watch "her" champion dancers (she's awesome), paused, and told me, "Don't leave this feis without that dress." I'd already worked out a price with the sellers friend, okay, I accepted THEIR latest markdown on the dress. I do believe it was fair for what was offered, confirming after the sale what the original price was (I was close). She said others had tried on the dress, but it either didn't work well with the others coloring, or the fit, or their TCRG had nixed it. (It isn't exactly muted colors, and will stand out.) I told her about the blue and white dress, and she nodded, "Too many others in the school with that color, huh." "Um, yes."

"Mom, Mom, TCRG texted back, "If (Figures Teacher) okays it, then I'm okay with it." Well, then, let's get M her dress.

My boyfriend, E, asked me, "How many dresses does she have?" "Ultimately, just two, her school dress and her solo dress." We'd brought her outgrowing now short-waisted solo dress, just in case, the borrowed from the TCRG's regal solo dress, and M's old school dress (someone was borrowing the cape). We were brought M's new school dress and a new school dress for another dancer in the school. Of course, we were going home with the new to M solo dress, the golden glittering dress.

In class earlier this week, TCRG sees me, "So, do I get to see this dress?" It was in the car, and so she scrutinized the zoomed photos I'd take of the pink cape, et al. At an appropriate moment between class and rehearsal, M put on the dress. I thought she looked like a full-sized Barbie doll (maybe I shouldn't tell her that). TCRG, "I like it, and it's not like anyone else's!" Ah, the final approval.

Figures Teacher assists TCRG with this class. She smiled over at M, then said, "(M), you look beautiful, now take off the dress [and get working on your dancing]."

Talking w/ the MAID who sold it right now. I'd have never "met" her if not for this dress, and it'll be fun to look for her and her daughter at the Southern Region Oireachtas this December. (Her daughter had broken her foot last year at Oireachtas time, and took months off to heal. In the interim, she outgrew the dress!)

So, the gold has been passed along. The girls in the first owner's Irish dance school referred to it as the Las Vegas dress. I referred to it as Princess Barbie dress. I did tell M that it's a dress for a champion, not a novice or open prizewinner. Ah, but as of May, she IS a champion, and she feels great in this dress (which certainly helps). May it be a "lucky" leprechaun dress for M, too.