BM Dresses--Karen

All right! It's time to kick off the bridesmaid dress challenge! From the archives ... I have dug up my BM photos! (Don't you love the "BM"?)

First up ... from all the way back in 1989 ... here I am with my oldest sister, Cindy, at her December wedding. Cindy got married just after a bad ice storm. The Interstate was closed down, so there were some people from home who couldn't make it to Knoxville. I was only 15. You can't see it, but there is a big ol' bow on the back of my head--and, come to think of it, my butt! LOL!

Because you couldn't get the full effect of my bangs in the first photo, I wanted to include this next one. Here are both my sisters and me. I'm on the left. I was dissatisfied with my hair after getting it done at some fancy-dancy salon, and I distinctly remember holding my bangs straight up and spraying them stiff! I don't recall what happened to this dress--too long ago. But boy, do I ever remember what happened to the next one ...

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My friend Jennifer got married when we were in college. She went for a hunky older guy--they were high school sweethearts. I think he was a senior when she was a freshman. Anyway, here we are on her wedding day--January 1, 1994. How do you like my short mushroom hair and my pasty white complexion?
This bridesmaid ensemble was a two-piece number--jacket and long skirt. They were actually made specifically for the wedding--I think the pattern was a Jessica McClintock. Anyway, sometime after the wedding, I took the dress to a local consignment shop. I used to take my old clothes there all the time, and I got to know the owner. We would chat when I visited. Every once in a while, she would tell me a story of someone who bought something that used to be mine--you know, like "The sweetest gal bought your black formal for her junior prom." Stuff like that. So one day, I came in and she said, "You don't want to know what happened to your ivory bridesmaid suit." And I was like, "What? Tell me." Turns out, a gay guy bought it to wear drag. He apparently said he didn't think he could fit into the skirt, but the jacket would work! How's that for a "Whatever happened to my bridesmaid dress?" story!?

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The rest of my bridesmaid dresses are all navy--as were the dresses in our wedding. (I really wanted black, but Tanna didn't approve. My sister wasn't fond of the black idea, either. Oh well ...)

Here is a pic from my sister Robin's wedding--it was 1995. October. So I would have been 21. We got these dresses--and her wedding dress--at Massengills in downtown Johnson City. Remember that store? Is it still there?
We wore these fancy shoes with a bow on the front--the shoes were kinda pricey for dye-to-match numbers. But they were also from Massengills, and we splurged a little. I kept this dress for a while. I loved it, but I don't think I ever wore it again. I think I just got rid of it in the last few years. I gave it to Robin--I thought Rebekah and Riley might like to play dress-up in it sometime.

Here's a "Four Pierce Kids Picture." My Mom loves to get photos of her four kids together. These are very few and far between now, with Cindy living overseas. But we hope to get one later this year!

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Let's fast forward a few years to 1999. My friend Michelle got married in good ol' Piney Flats, Tennessee--it's home-sweet-home to me! Michelle and I met at Mary Hughes Middle School during the Reagan administration. I like to say "the Reagan administration." We've been friends for, gosh, almost 23 years now! Wow. We're old!

Anyway, here we are on her wedding day:


I really liked these dresses. (I don't think I wore a BM dress that I loathed.) These dresses were from a formal shop in Kingsport. The name escapes me. Annie's something or other? Not sure.

This one I really did have shortened. I wore it to my brother's rehearsal dinner. Guess what else! A few years later, I gave it to my friend Kristin, and she wore it to our wedding in 2004! See:
Kristin was our program attendant. She's so pretty!

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And last but not least ... it's the dress from my brother and SIL's wedding. Johnny and Anne got married in 2001. It was a June wedding--the weather was just gorgeous! It was a great day.
We rented these dresses from a formal shop in downtown Johnson City. It's near Massengills, but I can't remember the name of it. We were the first bridal party to wear them, if I remember correctly.My brother and his attendants. He had his three big sisters as attendants--awwwwwwww ...

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So there you have it. Those are my BM dresses and the stories behind them. Let's see yours!