Henry Holland 1 | Page 15

gods name did you dress me in here’, she just laughs and rants on about how beautiful I used to dress when things were in her control! As mentioned, when my true love for clothing began at around the age of 10, the long-winded arguments became to surface with my mother, arguments that involved me explaining how it’s now my turn to pick out outfits for school disco’s, arguments about how I was now old enough to make my own fashion decisions. It took a very long time (as you can only imagine) she never really wanted to let go of her love of dressing me up in her idea of ‘suitably beautiful garments’. After a year of arguments and discussions about me wanting to take control of my wardrobe, my 11th birthday quickly approached, I was one of the youngest in my year at school, so my 11th birthday was a big deal for me! All my friends at school were so incredibly ecstatic that they had turned 11, so when the 7th March approached, I knew it was my turn to catch up to them! I’d never had a proper birthday party before, and as the big ‘11’ took me by surprise, I knew it was time for a party I had always wanted! By the time the 7th March came, my mum became so tired of hearing me complain about her bad outfit choices, that she knew it was time to let me take control of what I was going to arrive in, and show off to all of my friends. I remember finding this beautiful black strappy dress, with a tutu that formed the bottom of it, it was love at first sight, and I knew that this was going to be the dress I would wear to my first ever birthday party! I rushed to the changing rooms and tried it on as quickly as possible, it fit perfectly, and I honestly didn’t want to take it off! Looking back now I think I could’ve walked out the store with it on, and I could’ve wore it for a good couple of weeks! I shouted my mum into the changing rooms and the first thing she said was ‘that looks nice darling, but shall we go and find some leggings to put underneath it’? Well, you can only imagine the shock/disappointment upon my face; she tried to take over my one truly adored outfit all over again! I was determined to not let this happen. I wandered back out into the store from the changing room, and was completely determined to find something other than leggings, that my mother would allow me to wear under my beautiful black dress. I came across the ‘tights’ section, a section that I had never actually stumbled upon before. All I can remember is several different kinds of tights, with different patterns and colors embedded within them! After a good 10 minutes of hunting, I came across some beautiful black sparkly ones that I knew would go perfectly with my dress! I quickly ran back into the fitting room, and explained to my mum how amazing these tights where, and how lovely