My parents said I wouldn’t have to deal with formals after my high school prom — they were wrong.

Granted, my dorm formal wasn’t nearly the level of formality my high school prom was   — for that, I had a big ball gown, and a corsage, and did all of the regular cheesy high school prom stuff. For my dorm formal, I just took a shower and did nicer makeup than usual, which, come to think of it, was probably all I needed to have done for my high school prom in order to have a good time and would have left me significantly less stressed.

I was kind of concerned about how my dorm formal was going to go, as I’m not much of a partier to begin with and a lot of my friends were bringing dates while I was not, but it turned out pretty fun. It really was basically just like a high school dance, except there were no teachers to pat you down for alcohol when you first came in.

The theme was technically masquerade, but I don’t really know of anyone who kept up with that beyond taking a few cute pictures with masks beforehand. I mean, that’s what  I did. I definitely did not keep the mask that’s perched atop my head in some of these photos on all night — in fact I think I left it on a table somewhere and lost it. Oops.

In the end, I’m definitely glad I paid the $5 and went. I had been considering staying in, since, like I said, I don’t usually party and I was concerned my more party-enthused friends would find me boring to be around, but I managed to have fun, even though it wasn’t really an environment I typically hang out in. Whether or not I was boring to be around isn’t something I can really speak to, but I think I made for a good fake extrovert, at least for the night.

Plus, I got an excuse to wear this gorgeous vintage dress I got from a flea market over winter break for $8! It’s not really something I can just wear out and about, so I was waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it — and I think this was it. I looked very nice among the gold balloon decorations of the ballroom, if I do say so myself.

Honestly, wearing the pretty dress made all of the socializing-in-a-public-place woes worth it for me. If any of my friends or family is reading this, keep that in mind: if ever you need to coax me out of the house, promise me that you’ll take pictures of me in pretty clothes against a pretty background and I’ll probably crawl out of my cave.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)