When I was in 5th of 6th grade (11 or 12 years old) I went to the local drugstore and bought a sewing pattern I just adored. It was like one of those 50's dresses with the nipped in waist and a full skirt. I wasn't quite skilled enough to handle sewing it by myself and my aunt was going to sew a dress for me. Well, she took one look at my dream pattern, decided I was too chubby, and coerced me into settling for another pattern. I think I picked the fabric (kelly green with some sort of flowers) and she made the dress. I loathed it. It was stiff and tent-like. Imagine my surprise when I saw a pattern pop up on my facebook stream that jogged my memory. It was a vintage pattern from 1969. I would have been 11 when it came out and I remembered the pattern. I didn't think I was capable of sewing dresses at that time. Then I remembered! That was the dress my aunt made for me. The dreaded tent dress. I think I wore it once and it haunted my closet for years.
Nowadays most fashion experts tell you that even chubby girls need a waist with a belt or something to define it. My aunt used to call me chubby checkers which was very hurtful. To get stuck with that stigma as a child definitely changed the person I was. I am still self-conscious.
Update: As fate would have it my daughter just bought a vintage dress in the style I wanted my aunt to make for me when I was a kid. So you can see exactly the type of dress I was talking about if you couldn't picture it before. Her's has a side zipper.
