Thursday, October 7, 2010

Sewing Scenes: Pretty in Pink

Whew, we've been sewing hard this week, readers! Time for a little break with an installment in the sewing scene series, where we look at stitching scenes in popular movies. Here's one I've gotten several requests for: Pretty in Pink.

An excellent movie. Though I was a little young for it when it came out, I did—for some inexplicable reason—have the novelization. (Ah, the life of a young bookworm.) As I recall, the book had great descriptions of Andie's DIY New Wave style and, of course . . . THE dress. I did finally see the movie in recent years and it is a charmer, in the way that teen romances of this era so often were.

Funny side story: I saw Easy A this week, and the main character has a scene where she laments that modern teen life isn't like a John Hughes movie. (Sing it, sister.)

Another funny side story: there's a short sewing scene in Easy A! Have any of you seen it?

But back to the movie at hand.

I think it came as a bitter disappointment to vintage-lovers everywhere that Andie took this fabulous 50s prom dress . . .

 . . . and turned it into this.

Ah well. We all have young fashion missteps for sure—it's just a sad day when a lovely vintage dress has to die for them.

The dressmaking idea at the heart of the movie, though, is that Andie takes something that isn't quite right and transforms it so it works for her—and so that it, in turn, transforms her. And isn't that what so many of these film sewing scenes are about? 

What are your thoughts on THE dress, readers? Did you like it when the movie first came out—or has your opinion of it only soured with time?

Sadly, I was unable to find a video clip of the montage where she makes the dress. Please let me know if you can find it. In the meantime, take a trip down memory lane with the adorable trailer:

63 comments:

  1. I never did like that dress. I thought it looked like a pink potato sack. I liked the original dress!
    Still, I do love that movie. In fact I have it sitting in my living room right now.

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  2. Love the film but, eurgh, that pink sack was grim and so misjudged. What's all the more surprising is that 80s 'cool kids' would use loads of retro styling to great effet, whereas this mess aspired to the mainstream (of the time), which is in complete contradiction with the character. What the costume designer was thinking, I do not know.

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  3. I saw Pretty in Pink the first time when I was around 20 (I was going through a huge 80s movie phase at the time! All the things I missed out on as a kid. ;), and remember feeling horrified that she took that pretty 50s dress and turned it into that. While I applaud and love the idea of redoing something, all I can register is shock. But perhaps too, remembering how plentiful 50s dresses were in the thrift stores in the early 90s, it wasn't that big of a deal when Pretty in Pink was made. Maybe one day we'll feel the same about all the refashions of 80s clothing? (I think not--at least for me! ;)

    ♥ Casey | blog

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  4. It has always annoyed the hell out of me that the character took 2 dresses worth of fabric (her Dad bought her a dress too which she cut up if I recall correctly) and came out with a sack with no shoulders... The character was always made out to be some wonderful designer and then it was such a letdown to see her in that horrible mess! The costume people could have done so much better!

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  5. Your blog and writing is one of my favorites for its informativeness and encouragement and being down-to-earth, but I think "We all have young fashion missteps for sure—it's just a sad day when a lovely vintage dress has to die for them" is the funniest line of yours I've ever read. Still giggling about it.

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  6. The dress is definitely ill fitting but I don't remember thinking that when I first saw the movie. Of course, I wasn't a sewer then. All I can remember my 16 year old self thinking was that the movie was pure perfection! The Psychedelic Furs? Andrew McCarthy's angst-filled stares? Molly Ringwald's shrieking? For me, nothing better captures adolescence than Pretty in Pink!

    And, John Cryer as Ducky? Love! If I could only erase the thought of him as his current TV character.

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  7. Oh dear, this was my favourite sewing scene EVER when I was younger! My year 12 formal dress was inspired by it (you can see it towards the bottom of this post http://josiesews.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-blogoversary-to-me.html). In my defense, it was 1986! Also, I did not cut up a vintage dress - just to be clear.

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  8. http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20412192,00.html

    Molly Ringwald is still wearing vintage clothing! Scroll down....

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  9. I loved that movie - we, too, have a DVD version. The vintage dresses were a dime a dozen then, no one wanted them, very few sewed among my generation (I was a senior when this came out). And the sack was characteristic of some of the era's designs. I think it was a poke in the face at the traditional prom gown, going "her way", etc. It was not attractive, though. I always wondered about the excess fabric, too. We were just talking on FB amongst friends about our fave John Hughes movie/scene, too. The Duckman doing the lip sync/dance in the record store, priceless :) As far as sewing in the movie, like I said it wasn't cool amongst most of my gen, they were brought up to want store-bought, as did I. It's become cool again, though.

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  10. Ha Great Post...I loved this movie... I really like Molly Ringwald's character but I agree aghhhh what happened with the dress? She takes a dress from kmart and then combines it with a vintage dress? I actually think that based on how her character dresses you would think she would have just worn the dress as is. And I am not even sure how she could have made that dress anyways it just doesn't make sense lol!! Sometimes I just don't understand the 80's hehehehe I loved the 80's I lived through it but I just don't understand it~ The strangest things happened I remember wearing fluorescent socks ...:-O Heather

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  11. Ducky lip synching to Try a Little Tenderness is my favorite movie scene EVER!! How could she choose that rich asshole over him? I remember thinking that it was so cool that she made her own clothes and that she was not afraid to have quirky style. I always envy unique personal style in people esp. movie characters. I had no frame of reference to know that she ruining vintage. I have this DVD. I think I'll watch it while sewing this weekend.

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  12. I remember watching this when I was little and wondering why she would take such a pretty dress and make such an ugly one. Ugg

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  13. I find it interesting that sewing scenes seem to crop up as transformative scenes---taking the character from ordinary to extraordinary, generally in a way that is particularly reflective of their true self. Is this showcasing some secret power of sewing, or is this just the only time sewing merits movie mention? Either way I can think of worse things for sewing to be associated with :)

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  14. I'm still mad that Andie ended up with drippy Andrew McCarthy instead of the passionate, loyal Duckman. I really hated the refashioned dress, and figured that it was just another one of Andie's ultimately bad decisions.

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  15. I liked the film but I thought Andie's dress was unflattering then and almost ugly now. The original dress was much prettier. Also, is the original dress a 50's or 60's dress? The character it belonged to (played by Annie Potts) would have been way too young to go to the prom in the 50's so I was always confused about what period the dress was supposed to be. It looks like 60's to me but I'm not sure.

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  16. I loved this movie growing up- I was so inspired! I grew up in the 80s and remember it as a time when hardly anyone sewed anything (except for grandmas)- everything had to be bought RTW. So watching this movie really inspired me to be creative and think outside the box, so to speak. I thought the dress was cool at the time- but looking it at now I like the orginal better!
    I have the DVD, I think I need to go watch it now...

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  17. We were insulted by that final pink dress, it was too establishment for her. That character would never have adopted such a fashiony look. When "Grease" came out in the late 70's it sparked a big 50's revival. She would have LOVED that vintage prom dress and worn it with heels AND socks, lace gloves and a cinch belt. Obviously this was a cinematic Scarlet O'Hara sewing moment, with the vintage dress, rather than drapes.

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  18. Ah yes, I remember that film so well. I *was* of the right age when it came out and I still love it, although I never could quite get used to the idea that Andi chose Blaine over Duckie! Hello, he is way better!

    Anyway, yes, I nearly died when she cut up that awesome vintage dress that I would have killed for back in the day. And that she turned it into that horrible dress is so beyond awful. But, that movie gave me my first lesson in clothing recon, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

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  19. One of the best movies and soundtrack ever! The 80's were just a sad decade for fashion choices.

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  20. Like the movie, hated the pink sack dress. What a terrible thing to do to a vintage prom gown! And I thought it was out of character for Andie, who had so much other vintage stuff going on in her style.

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  21. I saw the movie in my senior year of HS, and even then I thought the "after" dress was hideous. However, on an unconscious level I loved the idea of self actualization through sewing. Interesting how we never saw her agonize over fit, though....

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  22. I saw "Pretty in Pink" as a little girl and I'm pretty sure the movie, especially the sewing scene, inspired me and shaped me into the woman I am today (and still want to become). I don't see the dress as typical 80's, just look at what all the other girls were wearing to the prom! The scene where she shows up at the prom did, and always will, take my breath away. I love that pink, shoulderless, potato sack!!!

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  23. Oh yeah! Ducky lip-syncing to Otis is just so classic and still sexy as ever. I was 16 when that movie came out--I stayed behind in the theater and watched it a second time. At the time it was still pretty rare for high-schoolers to shop Salvation Army/vintage clothing (but that all completely changed in the late 80s/90s) so she was a revelation.

    I don't remember anyone who liked her edited dress, but we liked the fact that she bucked the system. We were still all puffed sleeves and princess lines back then. But I don't think we dug the vintage dress, either.

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  24. I loved Andie's style (I still think she looks good!), but I never liked that sack dress. I do like the scene a lot--just not the result. Love that movie though, it was my favorite!

    My mom DID sew for me throughout the 80's, and a lot of the time it wasn't really a huge success, because I was a dork and her ideas of style weren't exactly up to the minute. There were still some great things though (also I was the only kid in Bakersfield with Clothkits dresses!), and my 1991 prom dress was very 1991.

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  25. Oh, how I loved that film when I first saw it as a teenager. I still love it. As a boring Brit, the perceived glamour of an American adolescence. Telephones in your bedroom! Pink telephones in your bedroom! Did all American girls have this?

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  26. LOVE this movie and this scene inspired me to start sewing years later. This movie was so important to me that I actually remember what theater I saw it at (Brookfield Mall) and what kind of day it was (beautiful and sunny). I walked out of that movie completely transformed.

    I also was totally in love with Duckie and didn't understand why she went with Blaine, but somewhere there is the original ending where she DID end up with Duckie (they re-shot based on audience feedback). I think it may be an extra on the Everything's Duckie edition DVD.

    About the dress- I have to admit that even back then I was disappointed a little, but now more so. However, I was so enthralled by what she was doing and her process that I forgave the movie for that. Also, if you think about it her character was only 17-18 and she was probably sewing at her level. In that case a sack dress would be about right.

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  27. I know. What a shame to turn that gorgeous 50's dress into a shapeless sack.

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  28. Oh, Pretty In Pink, I love you!

    I was a sewist in the '80s, unlike most teenagers, and Andie was very influential for me (along with Denise Huxtable, LOL). I have at least two school photos of me wearing blazers, lace, and brooches at the neck.

    I loved her style in most of the movie: the hats, the layered costume jewelry, the bits of lace, the thrifted and vintage wear. The Karmann Ghia!!! Vintage was definitely an "outsider" pursuit in the 80s. Most girls wanted to look like the blonde highlighted mean girls in their Lacoste or whatever they were wearing.

    I lived in a small town, with limited access to thrift stores, but it was Andie and Ducky who prompted me to visit an Army/Navy store on vacation and get a vintage Navy dress uniform blazer. I wore that thing everywhere. :)

    The dress... I tried so hard to like it. I did not succeed. The vintage dress would have been perfect - she should have just taken off the bottom swags and added a touch of the lace from the other dress. But, I get it. It was her "%$!@ all of you, I'm gonna be myself" dress. Too bad it was also hideous. The ironic thing is that I think that dress was very un-Andie - she had a much better style sense than that.

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  29. Blaine? That's not a name, it's a major appliance! Still one of my all-time favorite films. Andie inspired me to see that it is okay to be the girl who shops at the thrift store and sews her own clothes. Yes, that dress was a tragedy and yes, she was supposed to end up with Duckie. The film also features one of my favorite Harry Dean Stanton roles. He wasn't the best dad, but he loved her so much. Thanks for this trip down memory lane, Gertie. Loving this series!

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  30. She should have worn the dress as it was, not remade. I believe she ruined a garment of her mother's as well (where the lace came from) didn't she? Two vintage garments died for the hideous sack dress. Cool that she was into sewing, etc., not cool what she did with it...

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  31. I did have a phone in my room (because my dad's hobby was refurbishing old phones - we had one in every room, but only one line for all of them).

    However, unlike a John Hughes movie, the poor kids in my school didn't dress better and have cooler cars than the rich kids, and we didn't hang out in bars at 16 or smoke in gym class.

    And yes, Andie was a fool to choose Blaine, but don't feel too sorry for Duckie - he ended up with Buffy, after all!

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  32. I graduated in 1986 and I really loved her outfits she wore but I agree with everybody else that the prom dress was quite a flop and a waste of a great 50's retro... It's almost as if they were rushed to get the final project done and wrap up the movie... I would love to hear what Tim Gunn & the project runway judges would say about it - LOL

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  34. I remember this movie being very polarizing and controversial among my fellow middle-schoolers when it came out. Many of us felt our first pangs of cinema outrage when Andie inexplicably ditched the amazing Duckie at the prom and ran to Blaine and his douchey BMW. There were rumors that this wasn't the original ending, that she was supposed to end up with Duckie. No one could ever bring up this movie without all us pre-teen Andies screaming in anger and outrage over that ending.

    Of course, re-watching it as an adult, I'm fairly convinced that Duckie was incredibly gay and that they never would have worked out past college anyhow.

    Also changed: as a kid I loved her self-made prom dress. It was the 80's and that was the height of cool. As an adult, I cringe in horror when she cuts up the vintage dress and makes the sloppiest, most poorly conceived inverted sack I have ever seen.

    I still kind of love Duckie though.

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  35. I heart a John Hughes movies! He was such an integral part of my childhood (and also influenced my clothing decisions at the time.)

    That being said, Andi's dress remake made me SO sad. I didn't even know how to sew at the time (ah, jr. high), but even I knew that dress was fug. After seeing Andy's other cute self-made clothes, it was a disappointment.

    Also, Duckie? Lipsynching to Otis? Still hot. A man who can dance like that will live in my heart forever.

    Blain? Notsomuch. He's no Jake Ryan.

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  36. Great film, shame about the dress. You've inspired me to go dig out my prom photos. I bought a dress for $10 and made some alterations to it and I bet I was just as happy in mine as the girl whose dress cost $700.

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  37. It's so funny that we all had this feeling in common. I remember ALSO HATING the new version. Even in the 80s it was hideous. And I even remember thinking the original was cute. It was such an eventful moment in the movie that was deflated by the ugly ugly....ugly dress.

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  38. I hated that dress when I saw it originally because she seemed to have sewing skills and, yet, that dress was so horribly constructed. It was just totally unbelievable.

    In high school I loved that movie; I was already sewing uncool clothing for myself and it made me feel like less of a freakshow. It also totally made me interested in going to school for clothing construction and, while I don't use that degree in my current profession, I still love having that background (and the sewing skills).

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  39. I'm in agreement with many of the other posters about this dress. I remember watching this movie when it first came out and loving the fact that she was creative and sewed but this dress goes beyond that...down right "Fugly" in my book. As Kim above, said..."a pink potato sack". I think that is being generous...lol.

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  40. Ooooooooh! I loved that movie. It is definitely part of my teen years. I thought Andrew McCarthy was SO cute. I loved the vintage and the sewing. Though, even at that time, I was sad for the original dress! Oh and the DuckMan! I can't give an objective review on this one!

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  41. I'm totally Team Duckie! He really shaped what I look for in a man. LOL! If there is an alternative ending out there where she makes the "right" choice and goes after The Duck- I must see it! I still get frustrated every time I watch it that she picks Blaine.

    I remember being really being excited during the part where she is working on the prom dress....and then thinking "WTF?" when it's done. HAHAHA!

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  42. I was a college freshman in 1986, and the thing I remember about the movie was that it made it look cool to sew your own clothes--which was something I did that hardly anyone I knew did, too. I honestly don't remember the dress at all.

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  43. Maybe part of the shock-value of the dress was it's daring omission of bust support? Hello! So strange. Perhaps her dress was making a statement of contradictions and non-conformity... pink and feminine... yet edgy, amorphous, eschewing traditional focal points on the female figure like, oh, a waistline.

    But this is one of my favorite movies, and I love that she sewed something herself (even if it is horrendous). It probably had a huge influence on my decision to have my mom sew all of my prom dresses.

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  44. I watched this movie heaps and although I may have thought the dress odd (I certainly do now) I was more involved tumbling around in the emotions of the movie at the tender age of 15, its a classic.

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  45. Love the sewing scenes in film series. I watched Pretty in Pink again recently (my husband had never seen ONE John Hughes film! -- that's what I get for marrying someone younger than I, not that one needs an excuse to watch John Hughes...anyway) and my take of the sewing the prom dress sequence and how she constructed it and how it turned out is that it was conceived by someone who didn't have a lot of experience with home sewing. Like, it was how a 30 year old man (or however old John Hughes was at the time) imagined a teenage sewist would go about designing and making a prom dress. Also that the dress was only meant to be stunning from the shoulders up because that's where the camera was on her most of the time.

    I hope you and others can think of more great sewing in movies. I'm coming up blank. (Although there is this one old black and white movie, I have no idea what it's called or anything, where the heroine kills an intruder by throwing a pair of scissors from a sewing kit at him and then he falls on them. But I'm pretty sure that's not the vibe you're going for.)

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  46. I am the "right age" and I loved that movie. I already made my own prom dresses, too, and I was a rarity. I find those old dresses awful now but they were nothing like that ill fitting sack. Something no one else seems to mention is that I don't think they really cut up a vintage dress. The original skirt was not as long as the one piece of fabric that makes the front of the sack dress. I remember thinking that at the time, too. And she seemed not to use any of the dress from her dad that was also much better than the final creation. (Maybe the lace on the yoke?) I think they made the vintage style dress and Andie's dress from the same bolt but we were not supposed to figure it out. Also, I understand most movie productions make multiples of identical costumes. There is no one "original". And as for all you Ducky lovers, I always lusted after Andrew McCarthy.I first fell for him in Class (1983). I still like him! Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) was my other favorite romance from back then. And, everyone out there, did you find cool pinks flattering on red-haired Molly Ringwald? FYI, she had brown hair on The Facts of Life. Gosh, I'm old!

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  47. I also didn't see that movie until I was in college, at least. And while I like the fact that she sewed her own dress, I think the result is pretty awful. Of course, I also think that clothes from the 80s should all pretty much be burned because it was the worst decade in fashion EVER. (And I also don't like pink. So there.)

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  48. Also, if you want to go back to Disney, you could always use "Enchanted" for your next movie sewing scene! Even though her patternmaking method makes me cringe. ;)

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  49. Hated the dress the moment I saw it!

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  50. I saw this movie in junior high the week it came out. Her outfits in the rest of the movie were super cute, so I was majorly disappointed with the remodeled dress. My friends and I laughed out loud when she put it on. We couldn't understand why she would take that gorgeous frock and turn it into a shapeless blob. Or why Annie Potts would LET her. It was very zen of her.
    P.S. I miss my white buckled Duckie shoes.

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  51. Pretty in Pink has got a lot to answer for in my life. :) I'm another Brit wowing over the phone in her room and the way everyone in that movie seemed to have so much freedom.

    You've hit it on the head talking about self-actualisation through sewing, I never saw it that way before, and now I know why I've been sewing my ass off for twenty years. Funny how it's all about historical costume for me... I guess that ugly prom dress really put me off modern day fashion. lol

    And please, someone, tell me where I can find the ending where she chooses Duckie?? Because Andrew McCarthy was very, very cute by my 14-year-old standards, but Duckie had a heart and soul to die for!

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  52. You inspired me to write my own. Check out The Princess And The Frog if you haven't already. Tiana's mom is a seamstress. She makes princess dresses. First scene in the movie.
    http://stitchesbyjeni.blogspot.com/2010/10/sewing-scene-inspired-by-gertie.html

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  53. gertie - long time reader! love these sewing scene posts. as i've become a seamster i get REALLY excited when a movie features any sort of fabric store or sewing scene. see: big love, the virgin suicides, and the greats you've posted. personally, i hate the dress and think it's a sort of desperate attempt to get the "popular" kids to like her. i also think it would have been more in character for her to just wear the dress annie gives her, or even just improve on the one my boyfriend harry dean stanton gives her. but, ultimately, i think in an attempt to stick it to her rich ex and prove to the popular set that she was just as good as they are, she makes this very contemporary for the time gross thing that, as an adult, i GUARANTEE she feels really stupid over.

    and you know she ends up marrying ducky, like, ten years later after they both lost touch and re-met and lost touch again. youthful pride.

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  54. Oh I LOVED this film and how cool they all were! I hadn't really thought about the sewing aspect and the effect it was to have on what I chose to do, I just liked the gung ho way she went about it.
    I watched it over and over on VHS, still have it somewhere. I wanted to be her so badly...Nic x

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  55. here's a link to making the dress scene it's a lousy clip though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S57UUz_pTKg

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  56. I watched the movie for the first time in the early 90s when I was maybe 13 and I remember being apalled - I certainly much preferred the original dress at the time.

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  57. I know I'm a little late in the game for this, but this is one of my all time favorite movies! I even own it. Surprisingly, though I really like the original vintage dress, I actually like the final version too. Being a redhead, I've always been told that you can't wear pink so I loved the fact that she wears it in the finale of the movie. I also love the fact that her lovely shoulders are so well offset by the dress. Personally I think that was what the designer was designing around. I don't know, it was so 80's and so "modern." I do think that possibly some shaping in the bust and waist would have rendered the dress a little more catching. Still a favorite for me.

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  58. Just found your blog and this
    entry.
    This movie brings back so many memories.
    I lived in London as an Aupair and this was the first movie to see in a London cinema.
    I remember, waiting, in which great dress the old dress should be transformed and in the end I did not really like the new dress at all.
    But I loved Andrew McCarthy ;-)


    I`ll immediately order the DVD at Amazon, it´s on my wishlist since quite a while.

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  59. Haha! It really was the ugliest dress of all time. I love it though, I actually recreated it for my Halloween costume a few years ago.

    I had the book too! The ending is actually different from the movie, from what I remember. She doesn't end up wih Blaine, it's not totally clear - but i think she leaves with Ducky.

    Also the soundtrack was (is) AMAZING!

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  60. Ugly in Pink ... she's a redhead for gawd's sake. Hated the dress. Wondered why she changed it too!

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  61. always thought that dress was awful!
    Hey! how 'bout Andrew McCarthy with the "and Andrew McCarthy" credit. I mean, really? When you're cast with folks like Harry Dean Stanton you warrant a "and" credit. man. the power of youth in Hollywood. Bet Andrew wishes he could have had that Big Love gig. LOL.

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  62. Andies' pink dress did not appeal to me but the premise of the movie sure did. This young lady that came from such a troubled family found comfort, an identity & direction from her sewing & fashion interest. Very inspirational.

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  63. Annie Potts' character is supposed to be 15 years older than Andie, that would mean she attended her prom on late 60's, not the 50's. 50's dress?

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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