By Allie Arnold
Staff Writer
Naturally, finding the perfect dress is at the top of the list for a girl’s prom necessities, and for senior Melanie Talmadge, that perfect dress did not fall far from the tree.
Talmadge tries to steer away from the norm and be unique. Before beginning her search for a prom dress, she knew she would prefer to purchase something very different than the form fitting, sparkly dress that is popular among teenage girls today. To be more specific, her mind was set on something vintage.
“I went into a few vintage stores looking for a dress but couldn’t find anything that caught my eye,” Talmadge said. “I went home, found my mom’s prom dress from the 80s and tried it on just for fun. It ended up fitting perfectly and I really loved it.”
Talmadge fell in love with the idea that her mom’s old prom dress is one of a kind in this day and age. She can be sure that no one will have anything close to it at her prom, so she will stand out and be different.
“No one will have anything like it since it was from so long ago,” Talmadge said. “I am very excited to wear it just because it’s so different and kind of unexpected.”
Talmadge’s mother, Meghan Ciganik, loved it as much as Melanie does now when she found her ideal perfect dress for her prom nearly 20 years ago.
“I found it in 1987 in a small boutique in Wisconsin for about $200 and I fell in love with it,” Ciganik said. “It looked like a princess dress; it was just so beautiful.”
Ciganik had her heart set on that dress and that dress only. However, her parents were not going to pay for it, so she turned to work in order to earn the money herself.
“I washed dishes at a local restaurant to save up money to pay for it myself,” Ciganik said. “The store held it for me and as I got paid every couple of weeks I would go and give them a little bit more money until it was completely paid for.”
Knowing that her mom worked so hard for the dress, it makes Talmadge appreciate wearing it a lot more.
“These days if I wanted a dress, I would go out to the store and my mom would buy it for me,” Talmadge said. “But my mom had to be sure that it was the dress she wanted since she was spending her own money on it and working so hard. It makes wearing a lot more special knowing she loved it that much.”
For Ciganik, seeing seeing her own daughter sporting the same dress nearly 20 years later brings back a lot of great memories, and she cannot wait for Melanie to make her own in it.
“Melanie and her sister played dress up in it all the time when they were little because they just loved it,” Ciganik said. “And now that Melanie is going to her prom and she still loves it enough to want to wear it. It makes me very happy.”
