Sisterhood Of The Traveling Dress

Three Generations Have Worn ‘The Dress,’ Which Was Bought At Old H.P. King Store

BRISTOL, Tenn. – As a 3-year-old girl, little Shannon Barre Itzaina would stand on a chair at her home near Bristol and nearly fight with her sister, Carrie, about who would, one day, get to wear “The Dress.”
Oh, wow! That great, big, beautiful gown!
The siblings’ mother, Joanne Starnes Smith, had not only danced in this dress. Smith had worn this gown – what the family now calls simply “The Dress” – in the Miss Virginia pageant and the Miss Virginia parade.
Smith was seen at two Emory & Henry College homecomings, several fraternity dances and a few more gatherings at Virginia Tech.
In all, Smith wore this dress on 27 occasions – and, each time, she said, “I felt like royalty.”
Born in 1939, Smith grew up in Honaker, Va. Her mother died in 1951, leaving her to be raised, mostly, by an older sister.
Still, Smith said, “In spite of this disadvantaged beginning, I graduated from Honaker High School, became a mother and a pageant queen.”
And, with a little laugh, Smith said she credits a lot of her success to “The Dress.”

‘LOTS OF LAYERS’
It had come from the old H.P. King Department Store on the Tennessee side of Bristol’s State Street.
Smith was just a sophomore in high school, in 1955, when her family paid $50 for the gown, plus an additional $25 for a hoop to go underneath.
Why this one?
“It was a sophisticated, strapless, rose taffeta with lots of layers,” Smith said. “It took a great deal of talking by the sales lady and my sister to convince me to even try it on. But once on my body, one look in the mirror ... I was in love.”
For Smith, a 1957 graduate of Honaker High School who now lives in Shelby, N.C., wearing “The Dress” was a chance to feel glamorous.
“I felt very, very proud,” Smith said. “It made you walk a little straighter, stand a little taller, hold your head high and smile, smile, smile.”
Smith competed in a string of Miss Russell County contests, finally winning in 1960. Going on to the Miss Virginia pageant, she placed in the top 10.
But that, in vying to be Miss Virginia, would be the last time that Smith wore “The Dress.”

‘MOST BEAUTIFUL’
The garment went into storage for nearly a quarter-century as Smith moved with her family to Iowa.
Yet, there, the little girl who dreamed of “The Dress” finally got her wish: She got to wear it.
Only, Itzaina – a Radford, Va., native, born in 1966 – had to go on a diet and shed 70 pounds.
“It was made for a petite woman,” Itzaina said. “I dieted for a long time, strictly to get into ‘The Dress.’ ”
As a teen, Itzaina wore “The Dress” to her senior prom and to the Miss Southwest Iowa pageant, where Itzaina won Miss Congeniality in 1984.
“It has purples and greens and deep browns and reds,” said Itzaina, now a resident of Escondido, Calif. “It’s just the most beautiful dress.”
And how did it feel to wear it?
“It was like the scene in ‘Cinderella’ when the fairy godmother waves the magic wand,” Itzaina said. “That’s how that dress made you feel, like you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.”

‘REALLY AWESOME’
Now, fast-forward another quarter-century.
“The Dress” made its way into family history – again.
Just a few weeks ago, Smith’s 13-year-old granddaughter and Itzaina’s daughter, Lilly Barre, wore “The Dress” to the Blue and Gray Ball at the Heritage K-8 Elementary School of Escondido.
“I heard all the stories about them wearing it in pageants,” Itzaina said. “I just thought it was really awesome.”
Smith, meanwhile, hopes this dress survives yet another stitch in time.
“Perhaps, later, a great granddaughter will wear it,” she said.
Itzaina echoed that thread of thinking.
“Oh, I’m not going to let it get destroyed,” Itzaina promised. “I know that for sure.”