Would you let your daughter wear this to the prom? (Barely SFW, I think)

[siberian khatru]

http://www.nypost.com/style/39213.htm

WOULD YOU LET YOUR DAUGHTER WEAR THIS PROM DRESS?

By DANICA LO

January 24, 2005 -- PROM princess or porn queen?

This prom dress is so skimpy, even the designer's CEO wouldn't let his teenage daughter wear it. But the dangerously revealing gown, prominently advertised in Seventeen Prom, YM Prom and Teen Prom, and on sale in a Midtown shop, is a top seller for the company this season.

"I was shocked when I first saw it, but now it's one of our top 20 dresses nationwide," says Nick Yeh, the CEO of Xcite, the Stafford, Texas, company that designed the dress and some 200 other styles this season.

"I have a 15-year-old daughter and, no, I would not recommend she wear this dress.

"As a businessman," he adds, "I'm not judging what a teenager should wear or not wear. It's up to the parents to decide for their own children."

In fact, some shops in smaller cities require girls to bring in parental permission slips to buy the dress, Yeh told The Post.

At Elite Designs, a formal shop in Midtown that has the barely-there gown on a mannequin, owner Surinder Nagpal says, "We've gotten a few calls about that dress. Originally, I wasn't going to stock [it], but my sales associate told me that girls would want it, so we're stocking it in black and red."

So far, says Helen Rodriguez, Nagpal's sales associate, no one has bought the $495 gown - but it just arrived.

"Our biggest sellers are still the traditional princess ball gowns, but sometimes a parent will come in with their daughter and will buy her whichever dress she wants," Rodriguez said.

"If my daughter had the body to wear it, I'd let her!"

It's too early to tell how many girls in New York City will buy the dress, but those who do may have a hard time getting through the prom door.

While it's up to individual school administrators to rule on prom fashions, the Board of Education maintains a disciplinary dress code that prohibits "wearing clothing or other items that are unsafe or disruptive to the educational process."

Lisa Maffei-Fuentes, principal of Christopher Columbus High School in The Bronx, bans "anything that resembles the famous [green Versace] J.Lo dress."

"I personally have to check every dress," says Maffei-Fuentes. "Breasts must be entirely covered and there should not be any cutouts in the bodice.

"On the night of the prom, we have chaperones at the entry looking at every dress. We also provide needle, thread and pins to close up holes and fix dresses to the appropriate length," she says.

"This is for their own protection. We're there to help them experience the prom as a wonderful, dignified evening."

Parents who saw pictures of the dress were shocked.

"It's absolutely too much," said Tal Mandler of Woodmere, Long Island, whose daughter, Dana, is 13. "It is very provocative and does not suit the occasion or the age."

"What happened to the rest of it?" wondered Hilda Salazar, whose 17-year-old daughter is a high school senior in Brooklyn.

Asked whether she'd allow her daughter to wear the dress to prom - or if she'd allow her 19-year-old son to date a girl who did - Salazar answered with a resounding no.

Students at Stuyvesant High School were just as appalled.

"Our school doesn't have a dress code, but I don't think any girls would wear that to prom," said senior Mary Zhang.

"How would you wear it, anyway? Double-sided tape doesn't last all night."

Senior Daniel Belu and junior Katie Hammond laughed out loud at the sight of it.

"I wouldn't want my girlfriend to wear this - at least not in public," Belu said.

"I don't think any girl would wear this to a prom. She'd step on her dress on the dance floor and everything would just fall out!"

Most of the students we spoke to were primarily concerned with practicalities. "You couldn't dance in that dress - actually, you couldn't do anything at all," says junior Vivian Healey.

"If you wore that to prom, you'd be falling out of it all night," says senior Angela Cho. "There's also hardly any material. I can't believe it costs $400. You could make it yourself if you really wanted to."

Other students expressed aesthetic concerns. "I don't think anyone would wear this to the prom. The dress looks kind of whore-ish," says junior Emma Herr.

"This dress would look great at a prom if the model in the picture wore it," says senior Vlaz Ermant, "but we don't have any girls like that at our school."

[David.]

in fact. It looks almost exactly the same, but I don't think hers was that revealing.

[David.]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

So how much did she charge you?

it was an old girlfriend of mine.

I can't stand her anymore

[e_train69]

It depends. This may be "old fashioned" by the year 2018.

[ck_IN]

"I was shocked when I first saw it, but now it's one of our top 20 dresses nationwide," says Nick Yeh, the CEO of Xcite, the Stafford, Texas, company that designed the dress and some 200 other styles this season.

"I have a 15-year-old daughter and, no, I would not recommend she wear this dress.

"As a businessman," he adds, "I'm not judging what a teenager should wear or not wear. It's up to the parents to decide for their own children."

I'm all for freedom of choice and letting the market dictate the product but this is absurd. There's no way in hell I'd let my dress company (if I owned one) produce this dress. At some point you have a responsibility to the community and this doesn't uphold that. The fact that he wouldn't let his daughter wear it says that he realizes it's not something he should be selling.

I also find it interesting that some of the adults don't have a problem with it but the kids interviewed were all against it.

"I don't think anyone would wear this to the prom. The dress looks kind of whore-ish," says junior Emma Herr.

Kinda sums it all up.

And if I had a daughter that even looked like she wanted to wear this thing I'd find the closest Catholic girls school and drive her there that night.

[David.]

whoreish sums it up nicely

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by ck_IN

And if I had a daughter that even looked like she wanted to wear this thing I'd find the closest Catholic girls school and drive her there that night.

I LOOOOVE Catholic school girl uniforms.

[go bo]

while it's easy for me to say (having had 4 sons and no daughters), and assuming we're talking h.s. prom (which would make the girl 17 or 18), i would probably go with my daughter's decision...

by that age, they're mature enough to know what is and what is not appropriate attire in their age group...

besides, if ya got it, flaunt it...

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Says the man who listens to his daughters talk about butt sex.

Sounds like he raised them right!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

I LOOOOVE Catholic school girl uniforms.

Oh yeah. Take her to the catholic school, ck. Do it.

[ck_IN]

I LOOOOVE Catholic school girl uniforms.

Lucky you. My sister went to Catholic school so the whole concept is kinda ruined for me.

Now if I was GoChiefs I suppose it would be a totally different matter.

[Mr. Kotter]

Originally Posted by go bo

while it's easy for me to say (having had 4 sons and no daughters), and assuming we're talking h.s. prom (which would make the girl 17 or 18), i would probably go with my daughter's decision...

by that age, they're mature enough to know what is and what is not appropriate attire in their age group...

besides, if ya got it, flaunt it...

You're kidding, right?

Originally Posted by ROYC75

Not in my lifetime !

Interesting. They'll discuss the joy of anal adventures with you, but that dress is off limits?

I would likely dissuade my daughters from wearing that dress to prom, but I don't see much difference between that and a swimming suit - not that you'd wear a swim suit to prom....

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Says the man who listens to his daughters talk about butt sex.

Oops - somebody already went there. Sorry.

[Taco John]

By the time your daughter is going to prom, if she's a slut, she's a slut. It doesn't matter what you let her wear by that time... The water is already under the bridge.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

So far, says Helen Rodriguez, Nagpal's sales associate, no one has bought the $495 gown - but it just arrived.

"Our biggest sellers are still the traditional princess ball gowns, but sometimes a parent will come in with their daughter and will buy her whichever dress she wants," Rodriguez said.

"If my daughter had the body to wear it, I'd let her!"

Meow.