Hello, my name is Rebecca McCune and I attend a school in Upstate New York. I have spent hours upon hours searching for that “perfect” prom dress. I have never found what I believe is the perfect one, mostly because I couldn’t settle on a style. I have browsed nexteve.com numerous times and am delighted that you are having this contest. This gives me an opportunity to create my vision of a prom dress. Prom night is a night you celebrate only once and I really hope to make it special. I often think of prom as being one of those ‘I’ll tell my grandkids about this’ memories. Also, I am not the average sized girl. I am close to 6’ tall and finding clothes that fit has been a lifelong struggle. I believe that this dress would be very flattering on any body type and make the girl feel like absolute royalty. So on to the dress.

    This dress fits into the ball gown category. When else in your life, besides your wedding, will you be given an opportunity to wear such a dress? This, combined with the beauty in ball gowns, is what inspired me to make my dress. The dress is designed to have an outer shell of satin that is a deep elegant purple, almost eggplant, color (sorry my colored pencils did not portray this). The second layer is also made of satin, but it is slightly lighter in color and has rhinestones along the edge. Finally, the third layer is made from sparkly, purple tinted tulle. Where the three layers come together, they are framed by flowers that are slightly darker than the outer shell. As the flowers descend on the dress, so does their size. There is a ‘waistband’ made from a silky eggplant color that goes around the back and is pulled to a point where the flower frame begins. Also there is a similar sash that goes around the smallest part of the torso; it is pulled to a point where there is a single flower. The sashes should not be smoothed when pulled tight, they should leave the natural forming overlapping folds.

    On to the back. The skirt on the back should feature the outermost shell only. The torso is made from the same material, but features rhinestones in the suggested pattern. There is a corset closure that features the material from the sashes. The lower sash is meant to cover the top half of the girl’s bottom, but not the entire bottom. The upper sash is brought to the corset, but stops when it hits it.

    Sleeves. The ‘sleeves’ are made from the silky fabric that makes the sashes. They are to be set on the round part of the shoulder.

    Thank you so much for considering my design for this contest. It would mean the world to me to have my dream prom dress. My family cannot afford a normal dress and any other dress would not fill the vision in my mind of my dream dress. Thank you!

    -Rebecca McCune