Formal Events in Canada: Proms, Galas & What to Wear

What counts as a “formal event” in Canada, and do you really have to dress up?

In this episode, we share stories from our first formal experiences (hello, grade 5 graduation!) to high school dances, proms, galas, and a few international events. Along the way, we talk about how fashion expectations have changed—like wearing sneakers with formal outfits—and the pressure (or freedom) to dress a certain way.

You’ll also learn useful English vocabulary like semi-formal, gala, and pantyhose, plus hear real conversations about culture, comfort, and personal style.

Whether you love dressing up or avoid it at all costs, this episode will feel very relatable.

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Thanks and we'll talk to you soon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You're not gonna believe this. Maybe you are. But I couldn't believe this. I wanna hear. The kids these days are wearing their formal attire and running shoes. That is strange.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Running shoes! Hello, Eepers. Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

We are two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us. And hopefully we'll interest you too. So join us for another conversation. Today we're going to talk about formal events.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Mm-hmm. I love a little bit of formalness. Not a lot, it's not my regular, but getting dressed up is fun sometimes. It can be. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

So what would you say is the first time you really dressed up formally for an event?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Do you know what actually? I think the first time was grade five graduation. Grade five? Uh-huh. Did you have a grade five graduation? I didn't graduate from grade five. Oh, we had a graduation from grade. We got a certificate. I remember it because it I got to choose my dress, and I chose this like flowery, floaty. I loved that dress. Loved it.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Okay, I'm stuck on grade five.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Did your school go to grade five only? Yeah, yeah. Our school went to grade five. Where did you live? Isn't that I think that's sort of common. Not around here. Grade five, and then there was a school that did six, seven, eight, and then high school. And we had a grade eight graduation also. That time I wore a black velvet turtleneck dress. It was much less joyful. But formal. More sleek. Yeah. More grown up, I suppose. Yeah. No, grade six or eight graduation here. Did you have a grade six? Well, I mean, I grew up around here. But yeah, but weird. Anyways. Yeah. That is the school both of our kids have gone. Well, my son will go to, and your kids have goes to grade six. Grade six. Yes. Did you go have a grade six graduation?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

No, I don't remember a grade six graduation. I remember grade eight graduation. We had a dance, and I actually missed it because my mom and I were on a trip to Holland. So that was better.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh, that's way more fun, actually.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

But I would have worn a pink flowery dress because that's that's what I had. Like I bought it with the intention to wear it to that event, and then the tickets overlapped and plans changed.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah. Did you ever get to wear the pink pink pink dress?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

I used to I would it wasn't like so fancy. It was made of cotton. So I could wear it around, you know, like to church or to a party or whenever I wanted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Nice. What about did you have formal events in high school? Dances?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

There were. There were dances. I don't think they were so formal until the final one, the prom. Prom. Um, which I actually didn't go to either.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

You missed all the all the fancy events. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

How did I miss that one? Um, I think we just decided not to go, my friends and I. Um, but at the same time, um, my sister and uh our close friend and myself were all slated to be bridesmaids in a friend's wedding.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Oh, that's fun.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

And so we had, it wasn't the same, exactly the same time, but we had dresses, matching dresses, for the wedding. And so instead of going to the prom, the three of us and our three dates, we got dressed up in our matching dresses. Cute. Um, and we went out for a fancy dinner together. Oh, nice. Yeah, so we celebrated it, but not at the formal dance. Oh, fair enough. Still fun, still good to dress up. Yeah, and I remember I was young, and so I was surprised when the waiter asked us, Are you a bridal party? Now I was an adult. What else would we have been?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Yeah, in three matching dresses. That's cute. Yeah. You there were semi-formals at my high school, which were dances. I don't know when those started, maybe grade nine. Probably. Once a year. Semi means half. It's a prefix meaning half. So it's sort of not as formal as probably your bridesmaids' dresses. Probably not. But part of the way there. So we girls would often wear skirts or dresses. I don't really remember anything in particular I wore, but I did like having an opportunity to dress up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

And did you start going in grade nine?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

I don't remember, to be honest, but probably. I think it was a pretty popular thing to do. Yeah. Were they held at your school? Yeah, they were in the cafeteria. Cafeteria, okay. Ooh. So fancy. They would like have special lighting and put up decorations. And yeah, and people would dance. It was a big, you know, the girls would usually stand in one side, the boys would stand in the other, but occasionally they'd ask each other to dance. It was cute.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

I remember in middle school or junior high, I don't know what we want to call it, but grade seven and eight. Yeah. Um, we often had sock hops at lunch. We had sock hops too. Sock hops. I think the idea was that you dance in your socks, but everybody wore shoes. I know. And we just wore our regular clothes because it was at lunchtime.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Yeah. What a strange I wonder what the the purpose was behind those. I guess just giving the kids a chance to let loose, have fun. Yeah, I guess so. It was, and I guess it was fun.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

I think it was fun. Did you go to those? I did, yeah. I often worked at them. And when I say worked, I mean volunteered because there was fundraising opportunities. I was probably involved in something that needed, you know, to raise money, and so I would sell juice or something. Yeah. Cute. But I still got to be part of the event. Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, but not a formal event. No. But hey, let's come back to that semi-formal for a minute. Uh-huh. So now my son is in high school, he's in grade 10, and he goes to semi-formals. And you're not gonna believe this. Maybe you are, but I couldn't believe this. I want to hear. The kids these days are wearing their formal attire, their fancy dresses, and like quite fancy dresses. Yeah. And like suits and ties, and running shoes. That is strange. Running shoes. They don't even have to be ones that match. Like my son wore all black and white sneakers.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Well, I feel like white sneakers are oh, are they cool? All white sneakers are pretty cool. All right.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Right? So now I'm showing my uh ignorance.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

We'll get you a pair of all white sneakers in a fancy dress. That's fun. Yeah. The girls do that too with their dresses.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yes, they do. Interesting. And I think, like, I think it's a little bit it it surprised me because for sure growing up, all I ever saw was fancy dresses with fancy shoes.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Oh, yeah. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah. It's a it's a set.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

That's how it goes.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Um, so I was surprised, but I kind of love it.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

No, I think it looks cute.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

It looks cute. It's comfortable. Listen, if you're gonna dance, you gotta be in comfortable shoes. So at my wedding, yeah, I didn't wear fancy shoes. I wore a very fancy dress, but I wore white sneakers. But not but not like like like tie-up sneakers. They were kind of like like a Mary Jane. Like a slip-on shoe. A slip-on shoe, but they were made by a a sneaker company. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all. Maybe I started the trends.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

I was saying you were ahead of the curve at the very least.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Wow, look at that. You're taking a page on your everyone. For my foresight. Because my rush now was if I'm gonna be on my feet all day, I'm gonna be comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Yeah. If any of you have worn high heels, they're not comfortable. They're cute. Yeah. I own one pair right now because where am I going in high heels? And they're very cute, but I only wear them if I know I'm gonna be sitting down. Also, footwear makes me think of my mom and I used to always argue when I was a teenager going to these formal events about pantyhose. Oh, pantyhose. Pantyhos are like thin. How do you even describe pantyhose? What are they made of?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

They're also called nylons.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Um, yeah, they're a really thin material that is translucent.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

They can be any skin color, any skin tone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Or black or white.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Black, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Um and they go from your waist tight, tight, tight, all the way down to your toes, end of your toes, like socks on the end. Yeah. And they're meant to be worn under a dress or a skirt. But they're quite old-fashioned. Like kids these days are not wearing pantyhos. No, and they're also uncomfortable. They're very uncomfortable. But my mom was insistent. I think when she was younger, it would have been very inappropriate to go without pantyhose. So she was like, you have to always wear a pantyhose. And I was like, Mom, they're not cool. Like, the other kids aren't wearing them. They don't feel good. I think usually I convinced her to let me go without them, but it was an argument we had on a regular basis for five years. I believe it's a plants.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Oh, I believe it. My grandma um used to give us, my sister and I, when we were probably like 12-ish. She for Easter. As an Easter gift, she would give us pantyhose. Pantyhose. Yes, she would. And did you wear, did you wear them? Um like we did, because if we were wearing dresses, we had to wear pantyhose. Oh yeah. It was something. I like thinking back, what was I'm trying to understand because I didn't ask her. Yeah. But why did she think that was an Easter gift? Yeah. And I think because at Easter you often get a new dress, a new like Easter dress to wear to church and the formal events. And and maybe her way of contributing was the pantyhose. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Did would you be like pretend excited? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Well, I she lived in different cities, so they would come in the mail. Okay. And we're just like, oh grandma gave us pantyhose again. That's cute.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Do you know I do actually own a pair of pantyhose now, now that I think about it? Two pairs. Oh. But they're bright colors. Oh. So it's it's less about looking like the old ones were kind of meant to look like your skin a little bit, weirdly.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

These ones are not. They're meant to be like fun.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Do they include the feet? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

They're they're like pantyhose.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

See, because I feel like the modern version of that is tights.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yes, but tights aren't really meant to go under a skirt. Fair. People wear them that way. But I you know what I mean? Yeah. Like pantyhose, you can't wear a pantyhose without no they're not pants. No. Whereas tights, people these days often wear tights like pants.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yes. Yeah. So I lived outside of Canada for five years, and when I came back, it was 2013. And I was surprised. I kept saying, Why does everyone think that they're wearing pants? Because they were wearing tights, and it it happened while I was away, like that shift. Yes. And I really was surprised. Like that didn't seem like pants to me. It seemed like something to go underneath, I guess, a skirt or a very long shirt.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Totally.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

No, they're they're pants.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

They're pants. I when it first happened, I was like, I am never going to leave the house in tights as pants. And? Yeah, now I do it. Ten years later or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

I mean, they're ridiculously comfortable. They're so comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Also, I do usually wear a long t-shirt. I don't know that I'd wear like tight, but I'm a little maybe more modest leaning than the average. Yeah, maybe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

But they are much better than pantyhose in many ways. And I think primarily because there's no feet. I always find the feet to be uncomfortable. But then again, I don't like socks.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

I don't like socks. I'm not wearing socks right now. Me neither. Even though it's snowing outside today. Yeah, I agree with you. Also, pantyhose would get a run.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Oh, yeah. So a run means like something would snag it and make a small hole, but then that hole would kind of grow all the way up or down the leg and it would look like a little bit. You'd have to stop it with nail polish. Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Yeah, we've got to be. This was because they're woven. So when they get a hole, it rips. So who knew we had so much to say about pannyhose?

SPEAKER_01 12:09

I totally forgot about pantyhose.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

I know, I think I haven't thought about them in a while.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

There was a time. I have sisters who are about a decade younger than me. And there was a time when my parents were on vacation and I was like taking care of the household. And my one sister had a birthday party to attend.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

And so she wanted to wear a dress. She was probably like seven.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

She was she got her dress on, and then um we went in the drawer and I got out some leotards for her to wear with her dress. So leotards are like pantyhose, but thicker. They would be they would be cotton, probably. Yeah. Um, and I remember her like not wanting to wear them. I don't exactly know what the reason was, but probably it had to do with not being socially acceptable. Yeah. And the problem was that I hadn't planned ahead. And so the party was like in five minutes, and I had to get her there, and I didn't have time to figure out what she could wear instead of the pantyhose. Yeah. So to this day I kind of regret my lack of train of timing, my lack of planning made her have to wear pantyhose or leotards to this party. If you're listening, sister, I hope you're not scarred for life, and I do apologize.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

It's nice of you to own your mistake. Okay, all this came from prom flash. So I will say I went to prom two proms. Oh. Did you graduate twice? No, you just went. No. I was so good they let me graduate twice. No. Well, I don't know. Maybe one was like at the school. One was like a school event. Okay. Our parents came, we it was at the school. We danced, like I danced with my dad. It was a cute, it was cute. And I wore like a blue, strapless, sparkly thing. It was I loved it. And then the other one was the students had like put money together to you know, and it was on a boat. What? Yeah, it was a very straight. I don't know why we decided on a boat. Big boat, or did you have a small graduating class? No, no, like a large boat. Not sure what the anyway. We went and on the boat. Uh I had a different dress that time, one shoulder, similar stretchy material and sparkly. And I kept that one for years. I wore it again later because it was stretchy, so it grew with me. Um, and it was fun. I don't remember much about it except I had a crush on a boy and I was hoping we would dance, and we didn't. I was sad about it. I know. High school heartbreak, you know? It's tumultuous time.

unknown 14:43

So rough.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

But otherwise, it was fun. I think there was like food. Obviously, there's no drinking, we're underage, it wasn't that kind of party, but there were like snacks and there was fun music.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

And nobody fell overboard.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

I mean, not that I heard about. Well, and my friends and I rented a limo, and somehow I lost my camera. Well, you know, at that time we didn't take pictures, we didn't have phones. No. So I had a camera with film inside, and I lost it. Oh. And then about a week later, somehow we had this prom before school was finished. My math teacher said, Hey, I found a camera and I developed the photos, and I think they're yours. Isn't that so nice? It is really nice. Like, what a lucky coincidence. And then so nice of him to take the time to develop the pictures and see who's in them.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Also lucky that you had okay pictures for him to see.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

I mean, listen, there was no chance of anything else, but yes. That's true. I still have those pictures. I'll see if I can post one. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Yeah. High school grad. High school grad Misha with the one, the one-strap sparkly.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

I still, if I still had that dress, I would still wear it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

I believe it.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, but eventually it was like elastic, which doesn't survive for decades. So but so I had that dress, which I no longer have, the one-shoulder black sparkle. And I wore it again years later for I was working for a nonprofit, and they have an annual fundraising dinner. Oh, yes. Right? And often those kind of events are can be quite formal. Yep. It was a huge event. They'd have 900 people, a thousand people in a big room, all sitting down for supper. And you would dress up, and I went many years, and I I love dressing up as long as it's infrequent. If I had to do it every day, I don't think I'd like it, but I do not. Anyway, so I wore it again to that, like maybe 15 years later or 10 years later. Yeah, it was fun. It was nice to bring it back.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Okay, so let me ask. You went to this event for multiple years, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Yeah, I've probably gone maybe 10 times.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

And would you wear the same dress multiple times, or did you feel the need to always get a new one?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

I felt the excitement of choosing a new one every time. Plus, one year, one year I made my I had just arrived home from Laos. I lived in Lao or Laos, country between Vietnam and Thailand, uh, for a year, and I came home and I had all this beautiful silk. Lao Lao weaving is incredibly beautiful. So I made myself one year a dress out of ikat, which is a type of weaving uh silk. It was beautiful. I loved that dress. And then another year, I had just arrived home from India. I lived and worked in India for a while, had a beautiful sambalpuri, which is a specific type of weaving sadi. And I got a friend, it's it takes some skill to wrap a sati the right way. It's not you can't just throw it off. Just put it on like a like a shirt, yeah. So I'd gone to an Indian friend's house beforehand for her to help me wrap the sati the right way. And I was really excited to wear that because it reminded me of the I had worked in Odisha, which is the state that's known for that type of weaving. So I wore my sati one year. I can't remember other other things I'd made other years. Or yeah. I liked it. I often volunteered at that event as a an usher, so I'd help people find their table. So I also had to be a little extra form.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Everybody got to see your fancy dress. Right?

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Because if you're just sitting at the table, no, no, you gotta swan about a little bit. Swan about. Yeah, but it was fun. Have you been to events like that as an adult?

SPEAKER_01 18:25

As an adult, I don't have a lot of formal invitations.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yes, me neither.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Um, when I lived in Qatar, we would sometimes have more formal events. The school I worked at would sometimes put on like a big dinner and party for the women. Oh, nice. There might have been things for the men too. I don't know. I didn't pay attention to that. Um, but what was interesting, it was for students and faculty and staff and and anybody connected to the school.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

What I found interesting was that when we got there, it was always the Canadians who were the least well dressed.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Oh, I'm not surprised. We're not a very formal culture. No, we're not.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

And I hadn't brought, like I have a few formal like bridesmaids dresses over the years, and I hadn't brought them with me. I hadn't thought that I would be attending galas or formal events. Um, so I went out and and bought, you know, I I wanted, I'm very practical. So I wanted to buy something that was a little bit blingy, but also something I could wear again. Yeah. So I just got a like a nice top with some jewel uh jewels on it, and it was sleeveless, and I thought this will be great. This will work for this and for other things. No, no, no. You showed up and it was it was very, I was very underdressed. Very underdressed. Even with a little bling. Even with the bling, yes. What what was the what were other people wearing? Um the students were wearing beautiful dresses made from really nice fabric, like like kind of like you were describing. Yeah. Sparkly, fitted, silky or satiny. Like they were gorgeous. Yeah. I mean, they covered them up when they came and and went, but when we were just all the women together, they had like beautiful, um yeah. Like were they embroidered?

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Is that very common there?

SPEAKER_01 20:17

So traditionally, yes. But but these are young people, and yeah, they would have gone to probably to a tailor, not to a store, but they might have gone to a store and bought a beautiful formal dress. Yeah, it was so fun to watch. But here I was in my skirt and and top.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

But didn't you say you went to multiple of these? Did you change your was that the first time or did you stick with it?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Maybe I only went to two. I thought about when I came home in the summer, I thought about bringing my most recent bridesmaid dress back with me. Yeah. Did I? I don't remember. I so rarely, you know, then I had a baby and then I didn't do much. That changes things. I mean, and also I'm not as I I guess like from our stories, you I didn't go to my dances as a teenager and you did, and and I Okay, so you would buy a new dress every time you go to that event.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

I have a dress that my mother-in-law bought for me 15 years ago. 12, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

But someone else bought for you also.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

That's interesting. We went together. Okay. Um, she helped me pick it out. Yeah. And it's the dress that I wear to all the things. When was the last time you wore it? I wore honestly. Oh, has it been a while? No, to her funeral.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Oh, yeah. That's nice though. Something she she bought for you. I think that's a nice.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Black and white, and we often wear black to a funeral. But nope, I was gonna wear that one because it was from her. That's lovely. And it was my go-to. And yeah. Sorry to make this sad.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Uh no, celebration of life. I think that's good. That's a nice way to honor. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Interesting though. We are different that way. Partly I think because I like to sew, I would get excited about that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Although if I were buying them, I'd probably buy a new one every year still.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

And for me also, I think there's a difference between what I think I want, like the practical when my brain is in control, and when I let myself just like follow my heart.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

And so my example for that is when I was shopping for a wedding dress, I thought I wanted something simple, something with a little bit of flow, but not a lot of flair.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

And I was trying on those kind of dresses. And at one point, my sister who was with me said, she took off this dress from the rack, and it was very princessy, and it had a big, you know, like a big poofy skirt. And she said, just try it on. I was like, I'm not going to like that. Just try it on. Yeah. I don't, I should, I'm not gonna try it. It's a waste of time. I'm not gonna buy it. She says, just do it for me. Okay, fine, I'll put it on. Once I had it on, I didn't want to take it off. I love this. And so this is what I like. I wonder how much how much of me is like you, but I've just not let myself explore it. Yeah, I think that's an interesting question. We need to have a fancy party.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Come for supper. We'll all get dressed up. Kingshook has great fancy outfits. That's my son. He has very cute traditional clothes that are lovely. We'll get dressed up. All right. Your kids can come if they want to get dressed up, great.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

So my daughter does not.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Oh no, she's not into that.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Recently, she was invited to a gala.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Oh, gala means fancy.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah. A fancy event. It there's usually like some kind of a meal. There's usually some kind of speeches. Right. And there's usually dancing. Usually. It can be different, but that's often how it goes. Often, yeah. Um, okay, so she plays a sport called ringette. And at the end of the year, this year, they they had a a gala. It was the first time ever. This sport is primarily played by girls. Oh, is that true? Yeah. In general. Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. It was we'll have a whole episode about this, I think, in the future. It's it's like hockey, but it was created for girls. And they don't exclude boys, but it it still leans that way.

unknown 24:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

So at the end of the season, they wanted to have a celebration. We've in the past had a pancake breakfast, but it was poorly attended. So they thought, let's try something, something bigger and fancier, and that would appeal to more ages because our ringette club starts it when you're maybe four or five, and players can be 19, 18. Oh, so practically grown-ups. Yeah. I mean, they don't play against each other, but we have teams in all those ages. In the four-year-old.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Who would win?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

For cuteness, the little ones. 100%. Um, so when we got the invite, my daughter was quite stressed about it actually, because she doesn't like to wear dresses. Oh, she's not comfortable in dresses. She loves like track pants and she loves her brother's hand-me-downs. Like she likes to be comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

So in the end, um, I think there might have been a few kids who were hesitant, and so we got another email saying, well, it's not dress to impress as much as dress to express, like express yourself. So there were lots of lots of players in fancy dresses and sneakers.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

I can't, I'm like, my brain is like, when can I do this? What's my opportunity for fancy dress and sneakers?

SPEAKER_01 25:43

I'm gonna keep an eye out. There were also some younger kids with dress shoes on because their parents don't know that how sneakers. Yeah. They don't know. How would they? Um, but my daughter chose to wear jeans and a t-shirt and a blazer. We went we went to the second hand store and we got her a blazer because for her that's really fancy.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Yeah. A blazer is like a jacket, but not the kind you wear for warmth. It's sort of like what a man wears with a suit, except it's made for I mean, a blazer could be for a man or a woman, but you can find more tailored ones for women if you want.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

A professional woman might wear a pant suit or something like that, but and that that's a blazer. The jacket is a blazer. Yes. So she wore her blazer and she needed new running shoes anyway, so we went and got her new sneakers. Gotcha. And so she wore those. She we bought them the week before, but she had to wait until the gala to wear them. That was like the big fancy thing.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Cute.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Uh, and then I was going as well, and I wanted I wanted to dress up at least a little bit, but I didn't want I was afraid that she would be the only kid not dressed up. And so I said, I will wear whatever you wear. Yeah. So I also wore jeans. I she let me wear like a flowery kind of frilly shirt under my blazer. A little fancy. Little fancy. Um, and I wore sink sneakers too. Because now you know it's cool. But they were not.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

You always knew it's cool.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

I always did know, but these ones were pink.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Oh. Hers were orange, so I had to match.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Oh, I feel like color could be color could be cool. Could be. Yeah. Could be, but apparently white is the most cool. Anyway. Because it's the hardest to maintain. I feel like that's gotta be part of it. Right? The second you scuff a white shoe.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Yeah, then it's a gray shoe.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

It was fun. We had a great time. That's really cool. And I think now that she has seen Agala and seen like the variety of ways you can dress, especially in Canada. Like we we don't like we're really loosey-goosey with our with our very casual. Yeah. In general. In ca in general and in fashion, especially, like there are times when something is more appropriate or less appropriate, but it's rare that you'd be turned away or mocked.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Yes. For dressing a person. If you wore jeans to a formal wedding, people might be upset with you. But otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

So we have a friend who doesn't like to wear a suit, but he gets away with it because he has um he doesn't he gets away with not wearing a suit to formal events because in his background he has some Scottish. So he wears a kilt. A kilt. But only to formal events. Like he doesn't celebrate his uh his Scottish roots in any other way. It's just a way to just show show up in a t-shirt and a kilt. And he ever. He wouldn't stand out.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

People would think that's great.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Kind of likes to stand out.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Yeah, I'm sure. Interesting. Yeah. You know, that makes me think about when I've worn a sati to a famous event or a formal event, or I I wear a lao skirt, sometimes called a sin. And it's an interesting line with stuff like that. I love those fabrics and the textiles and the tradition, but it's not my culture. Yeah. And it's always a bit of a fine line between what is appreciating the culture, what is appropriating. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Have you ever had an experience where someone had a negative reaction?

SPEAKER_00 29:12

No.

unknown 29:13

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

People are generally excited. And when I lived in India, I would occasionally wear my I had two sambalpuri saris, this like specific type of weaving, and I'd wear them to work sometimes just because I wanted to wear them. Yeah. And my work friends all thought it was funny because um where we were, which was kind of a rural area, the young women didn't didn't wear saris in daily life. They would wear a salwar uh Kami Salwar Kurt that outfit. Um so when I wore it, but then it kind of because I was doing it, it made it kind of fun. So then one day they all planned and they all did it. It was cute. Yeah. Plus, the first time I I had gotten some lessons in how to tie it, and but the first time I wore it to work, I did it myself. And I arrived and my my female coworkers are like, no. They hustled me into it. We worked in a little lab, kind of. They hustled me into a storage room and unwrap the whole thing and fix it, rewrapped it. It was really cute. It's complicated, it's a lot of meters of fabric.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Yeah, I think I think it comes from the heart of what you were doing, right? You were wearing it out of appreciation and respect and like real awe of this. You love the fabrics, you love, right? And people can tell.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, I think that's right. And Lao textiles, I think, are also a lot less well known in the world. So I always feel like anytime I'm wearing Lao textiles, I want people to compent comment so I can tell them, oh, this is from Lao. Yeah. You know? So in this way. Yeah, I think so. Good. Yeah, fun.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

So I had an unfinished thought before, and then we the conversation moved on, and that was beautiful. Um, but my daughter, now that she has been to a gala and seen all the different ways one can dress formally, I think next time she might be open to to trying something a little fancier. Interesting. We'll have to I'll keep you posted. Exactly. Yes, it'll be a whole year until then. She's she'll have a whole new personality, maybe even. Who knows? Who knows? People change a lot in a year. Absolutely, especially at that age.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Yeah. You and I we're kind of who we are. Set in our ways. For better or worse.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

This is me.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

But I'm I'm curious.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Yeah, me too. And at least next year I'll be able to wear what I want because she'll know what the expectations are.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

And you saw there were other kids there who were wearing like some kids in jeans.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Not so much jeans, but like pants, like a what do you call those one, like a romper?

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Oh yeah, a a jumpsuit.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

A jumpsuit, yeah. And there were some some kids in more gender-neutral clothing that were still on the formal side. There was a and then like fancy dresses, but also casual sun dresses, that kind of a thing as well. Lots of lots of options. Wide range. Yeah. That's fun. I like that. This has been a fun conversation.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Thanks, Misha. You're welcome. I love talking about clothes.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

And someday I want to hear more about the clothes you've made. We can have a whole episode about things we like to sew.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Hey, why not? Stay tuned. One day.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Thanks for listening to another episode.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

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