​Formal Season

By Lara Connor ’22
I can’t fathom that it was just three years ago I crowded around a laptop with my fellow Gund girls, dissecting an open Westminster directory filtered to the faces of the Third Form class. Pointing, laughing, we calling dibs on dates and switching tabs from the portal directory to Revolve’s “Little Black Dress” edit. I think I ordered and returned four different dresses before finding the “perfect” one. You’ll never realize the versatility of a black fabric scrap until you look for a winter formal dress. But first, you might need to find a date. So, ladies, get your ID cards out and trot those Vejas down to the school store, snatch up some sharpies and poster boards while they’re still in supply. It’s formal season, everyone!

Three years later and one winter formal lost to the Covid year, these past two weeks are the last I’ll spend on the Hill asking and replying to binary “who are you asking?” “how are you asking?” “what are you wearing?” questions. Margot Douglass ‘22 kicked off the season with a bang, asking fellow senior Newt Cutler to the dance at a school assembly and set a positive tone for asks to come, instructing underclassmen that going “all out” for your ask is not only an option, but encouraged and applauded. 3rd and 4th formers who have limited experience with formals and its expectations have taken up the challenge of asking incredibly well. Whether you choose to pen a clever pun on a poster or are Class of 2020’s Chloe Ferro erecting an ice sculpture in front of Memorial, all effort is appreciated and makes the community warmer.
 
Other notable asks this season come from Tatiana Restrepo ‘22, who spent a week transforming an old bedsheet into a NHL draft bracket. Days after Victor Barakett’s enthusiastic “Yes!” you can still find it hanging in Armour Atrium. Jackson Rink has arguably boasted the most asks, much as the post-affirmative embrace may be sweaty. Don’t fret, we predict our players will be properly showered on December 11th when they traverse the quad to collect their dates. Resident soccer royalty, 22’s Wheatley Sutro and John Picard will dribble up to Armstrong together, as well as basketball cornerstones Bella Tawney and Kellen Seeley.
 
Applause has rung through the Alumni common room a few times as Third Former girls make their first ask as a martlet, and teachers have enthusiastically been in cahoots with their students to help pull off the ‘perfect’ ask.
 
In my last year at Westminster — somehow a member of the only grade left on the hill to have experienced a spring formal — I cannot wait for this weekend. In this year, returning slowly and steadily to normal, we’ve observed highs and lows between dances. Outside, inside, sanctioned, unsanctioned… we all know nothing is ideal. Still, my belief that we are moving in the right direction has been enforced by the incredible effort from the ladies of our community in the last two weeks. When we all work together and aim to put a smile on another’s face, we are moving forward.