Classification: Dress Shoppers
It is assumed that throughout a woman’s life she will attend two high school proms, be asked to serve as a bridesmaid in at least one wedding, and of course walk down the aisle in a white gown on her own wedding day. For almost seven months I worked at the Bridal and Formal Center, a formal dress shop about thirty minutes away from my house in my home town of Fayetteville, North Carolina, where women of all ages would come in search of the ideal dress for their special occasions. The three types of customers that frequented the shop were the high school girls; shopping for the dress that no other girl will be wearing at prom, the bridesmaids; being used as life-sized dress-up dolls for the bride whose wedding they will be in, and the brides themselves; searching for the wedding gown that will serve as the cherry at the top of their perfect, wedding-day cake.
The young woman shopping for her prom dress enters the shop with an open mind, she is usually accompanied by her undoubtedly opinionated mother, and depending on her attitude, which usually varies from ecstatic to less-than-thrilled, she makes the most out of her visit and makes sure to have a good experience. Generally between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, the prom dress shopper is the type of customer who jumps around the store asking to try on every other dress that she lays her eyes on.
While working with these young women, employees must make sure to keep them feeling confident and excited about their upcoming event. Being young, impressionable, and constantly going against the wishes of their mothers, high school girls tend to take the advice of the employees or their peers over that of their mothers when it comes to whether or not a dress is flattering on them, but they will ultimately choose the dress that they know will make all of their male classmates swoon and the females envious. While shopping for my own prom dress, I ignored every piece of advice in…