Prom Shopping: And So It Begins...

CosmoGirlPROM is out on newsstands (how do you like Taylor Momsen's polka-dot dress?), which means the countdown to prom has officially begun!

If you're going to prom this year, you'll want to come back each week to read about my fashion and beauty finds, especially steals & deals, for prom. Just a little extra inspiration to add to the ideas you can always find on CosmoGirl's prom page and while searching MyPromStyle.com's Dress Finder.

But for starters, I have to recommend what's really getting me psyched for prom (because as editor of MyPromStyle.com, I go to one too!) — a book of short stories called 21 Proms. Some of the authors included are Holly Black (Spiderwick Chronicles), Cecily von Ziegesar (Gossip Girl), and Rachel Cohn (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist). Everyone who goes to prom has a story — whether funny, romantic, embarrassing — and this book covers them all.

My favorite story was actually written by a guy, Billy Merrell, entitled "Off Like a Prom Dress." It's a poetry-like piece that's all about the day when a girl finds the prom dress of her dreams. This is my favorite line:

"I want a dress. And to be allowed to look as pretty as possible. And that's it. It isn't about what the magazines say, or Jonathan..."

And it's true, magazines give great ideas but it ultimately comes down to how you feel when you're wearing the dress. My next favorite part of the poem is when she slips on THE dress:

"I stepped into it, let it up over my shoulders. Looking then at the mirror I saw: moon over midtown, the small lights of the buildings off the water. I love it, I told her. Which was true. And its simple lines and how I fit inside it perfectly."

So, do you get as emotional as I do about dresses? Cheers to the next five months we have to shop together!

Fashionably yours,

Tammy
Editor, MyPromStyle.com