Prom night is one of the highlights of high school that students are looking forward to. A night filled with students dressed in beautiful coats and dresses, a night filled with remarkable memories, a night filled with fun.
A lot of people would like to look back on the memories they have made during their respective prom by keeping a picture as a souvenir, while some choose to keep the royal clothes they have worn. One of the latter is Tracy Maness of Houston Texas, whose red dress 20 years ago saved a teen’s prom night.
On the site of Bellaire High School, Tracy attended her prom night 20 years ago wearing a red sequined dress, which she bought from Tootsies. 20 years later, the gorgeous dress she wore took everyone’s breath again as Maya Ballestas don the same outfit for her prom in Bellaire High School once again.
“My dad went out of his way and bought it for me at Tootsie’s,” shared Tracey. According to her, she has never imagined that her prom dress 20 years ago would still be in a very good condition. After all, the red prom dress she bought remained stored in a box inside her father’s home. On top of that, it also suffered from the flooding brought by the Hurricane Harvey last year, but to everyone’s astonishment, the dress was not damaged at all!
After Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc, Tracey stumbled upon her old prom dress once again while sorting her stuff. “I just happened to come across the dress after my dad flooded in Meyerland and it was still in the same Tootsie’s bag.”
Among the other victims of Hurricane Harvey was the family of Selene Ballestas, who is also a family friend of Tracey. Their home at Meyerland suffered from the ill-effects of the flood, in fact, their pieces of furniture were either lost or destroyed.
Although dear friends helped their family move to a new home, and a FEMA housing check aided them to afford new furniture, still a prom dress for their daughter’s special night was not included on their priority and must-have lists.
Fortunately, Tracey and Selene remained good friends despite not working with each other anymore. Tracey learned about Selene’s daughter, Maya Munoz’s upcoming prom and initiated to give her 20-year old Tootsie dress to Maya.
“I knew I’d never wear it again, so I decided to pass it on and bless somebody else with it.” Surprisingly, the 20-year old dress fit Maya’s body and personality perfectly. No one would even think that the dress she was wearing already surpassed 2 decades and even braved a hurricane.
Apparently, even the employees at Tootsies, Houston, were surprised that the dress was already 2 decades old.
“I feel so blessed,” Maya expressed her gratefulness in an interview. “Not that many people would have this opportunity to get a free dress that would fit perfectly with their personality, and physically fit.”
When the Tootsie’s learned about the red dress’ meaningful history, the company gifted Maya with a pair of sequined shoes and earrings to complete her look for the event. On their Facebook page, the clothing company simply wrote: “A prom gown is so much more than a dress. It’s a beautiful expression of hope and generosity.”
Tracey cannot help but reminisce the good memories she had on her own prom night 20 years ago, as she looked at the dress now worn by an 18-year old Maya.
“It made me feel very special and it was a great night. It feels good to be passing it on.”
Indeed, who needs a fairy godmother if you have a 20-year old dress that could fit perfectly to a teenager’s body of today’s generation? True to the caption of Tootsie’s clothing line, nothing could make a dress more beautiful than the kindness, hope, and generosity it symbolizes.