Joe Pinchot/Herald
Christa Carrozzi models the controversial gown.
* * * PARENTS SAY DRESS IS NOT TOO REVEALING * * * Store's owner likely won't be able to resell it
By Joe Pinchot Herald Staff Writer
Christa Carrozzi stepped out of the changing room wearing a prom gown.
The Farrell High School junior's dress of choice was a two-piece, made of silk. The beaded skirt features a side front slit and the sequined crop top is adorned with keyhole cutouts in the front and back.
``Now, is that obscene?'' asked Christa's mother, Brenda.
Farrell school officials haven't gone so far as to call it obscene, opting for the term inappropriate. Midriff exposure to the extent revealed by Christa's dress ``will not be allowed,'' said Superintendent John G. Sava.
The school's dress code calls for clothing to be worn in good taste and be appropriate for the event, he said.
Christa and her family were stunned by the school's decision. Christa said she chose the dress because it was a two-piece, and she believed she would be the only one marching in the grand cavalcade at Farrell's May 9 prom wearing one.
Mrs. Carrozzi called the school's ruling ``unjust.''
``If I had thought it was too revealing she wouldn't have worn it'', said Christa's father, Fred.
The school's crackdown is a response to letting a couple of dress code violations slip by last year. Two prom attendees wore gowns similar to Christa's. Another student wore see-through clothing.
But those violations were allowed because they were not discovered until the grand cavalcade, Sava said. It was decided that it would not have been in anyone's ``best interest'' to send the students home, he said.
At the March 3 school board work session, Sava said, he asked the school board whether the policy should be enforced this year. Each board member said yes.
Two weeks ago, the school held an assembly in which proper prom attire was explained. But that was too late for Christa who bought her dress in January.
``You let it in last year,'' Carozzi said he argued to school officials. ``Why can't you let it in this year?''
Christine Harrison, owner of Christine's Formal Wear in Greenville, who sold the dress, said she was surprised when told of the board's action. She said she runs a ``Christian business'' and has refused to order dresses that she deems ``slutty, seductive or revealing.''
``I wouldn't buy anything I wouldn't put on my daughter,'' she said.
Pulling out catalogs, she showed gowns she passed on: those with side cutouts that come up too far or do not sit flat against the skin, and lace fronts with too little solid material.
Pointing out a gown where the back plunges below the waistline, Mrs. Harrison commented: ``That's way out of line for young girls. That's provocative.''
Dresses with diamond keyhole cutouts in the belly would be OK. Christa said she was told by Farrell High Principal Frank Sincek. Other kinds of cutouts that reveal the midsection, but are part of one-piece dress, have sold for some time, Mrs. Harrsion said.
Christa's dress could be worn ``trampy'' by pulling the skirt too low on the hips, said Mrs. Harrison, adding that she sold a similar two-piece dress to a girl attending another school's prom. When worn higher, the dress reveals less skin than many backless designs, she said.
Christa, who paid for the dress with money she earned from a part-time job, complained that school officials never actually saw the dress.
``They didn't want to see it,'' she said.
But Sava and Sincek called Mrs. Harrison telling her that she should take it back or reimburse Christa, the store owner said.
``I said, `Wait a minute. None of this is my fault.'''
The dress was specially ordered and fitted for Christa, she said.
Mrs. Carrozzi said she can appreciate school officials wanting to call the store on her daughter's behalf, but didn't like the way the calls were handled.
``They had no business calling her about it,'' Mrs. Carrozzi said. ``She's just trying to make a living.''
Sava would not confirm he made calls, saying that any such calls would be made in confidence.
After some soul searching, Mrs. Harrison decided to break her no-return policy and offered to take back the dress in exchange for another one. Christa ordered a new dress only to find that two other girls had the same one. So Monday, she was back in Mrs. Harrison's store going through dress catalogs and browsing the stock.
Christa had ``no idea'' what style she wants, she said, paging through a catalog. ``I don't know what I'm going to pick because I don't want what everyone else is going to have.''
Christa eyed a one-piece backless gown with a front diamond cutout, sequined bodice and back straps. She tried on one like it that Mrs. Harrison had in stock. Her parents said she looked great in the off-the-rack version, but she asked that it be ordered in green.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Harrison has a $250 dress in stock, fitted to Christa, that she probably will not be able to sell.
``What am I going to do with this dress?'' she asked.
Published Wednesday, March 12, 1997
