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#145: It's Called Fashion, Look it Up

I never remember the Met Gala’s existence until social media is suddenly flooded with otherworldly outfits. The corsets, beads, and historical dresses of the Met Gala might feel a little insignificant given the state of the world right now, but it’s nonetheless a good opportunity for some fashion escapism.

So, in honor of the world’s biggest costume party, let’s think about clothes, identities, façades, and self-expression. Where does your mind go?

This week's prompts

Write a story where a particular piece of clothing appears three times.

Nonfiction – 59 stories

Write about a character who wakes up in someone else’s clothes — or utterly weird apparel they don’t recognize as their own.

Science Fiction – 38 stories

Set your story at a global fashion event — or a carnival ball.

High School – 20 stories

Think of an item of clothing from your childhood, and write a story inspired by that.

Nonfiction – 28 stories

Write about a character who decides to give themselves, or someone else, a fashion makeover.

Fluff – 20 stories

Stories

“The Uniform” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #145

In life we shared a name, he was senior and I was junior, but the commonality ended there. As a born storyteller, he would freely incorporate fiction, so you were never quite sure where the truth began and the story was sprinkled in. There were also some things he guarded with his silence. When he passed away at the age of forty-seven, he took many of those guarded secrets with him. One of his biggest mysteries was his uniform which I found in a metal closet in the basement after he passed away. From the documents I sorted, I f...

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“You Know How I Recognized You?” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #145

You Know How I Recognized You? I am a police officer who specializes in doing undercover work. In all modesty, I got the gig because I am good at being hard to recognize, being anonymous, non-distinctive. The clothes I wear in the drug-dealing, prostitution, mugging area of this fair city is instrumental in my blending in with the environment, and being hard to remember, like a crack in the sidewalk that I walk on when playing my role. I wear faded jeans, with slight rips in them, not the big ones that are now reborn as fashion...

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“Saturday Night Activities ” by Lex Lockner

Submitted to Contest #145

The teapot was screaming in my kitchen as I sprinted in to turn off the heat. It was dark outside, with only the large pendant lamp fixture over the table creating a soft glow. The tile of the floor was cold on my bare feet as I moved swiftly as I had done a thousand times. I pour the hot water into two mugs and everything feels so quiet and peaceful. “Ahem.” I’m leaving Jack waiting eagerly at the table for the tea. I quickly add a pinch of sugar to both cups, despite Jack hating anything sweet, and give the dark mu...

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“Twist of Time” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #145

The day was a formidable one at best with the downpour of rain and the occasional streaks of lighting that stretched across the expanse of the skies along with the ominous rolls of thunder. Looking out the large window that covered the entire wall of one side of the den, Piper yawned, sinking deeper into the cushions of the comfy sofa, the book she was reading perched on her chest. It was such a dreary day that she could not help feeling sleepy again even though she’d risen later than usual that morning.Her normal days of vacation almost alw...

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“The Man In The Window” by Mabel Gray

Submitted to Contest #145

I knew something was off before I opened my eyes. As I pulled my consciousness up from the depths of my dreamless sleep, I could feel the itchy, foreign clothes on my body. Something wasn’t right. The sensation of a pair of eyes watching me made me shiver and I snapped awake ready to fight. Heart beating fast with adrenaline, I sat up in bed with my hands in front of me, shielding me, but what I saw was even worse. This was not my room. This was not my bed. Those weren’t my windows or my clothes. I didn’t know where I was. I could feel the ...

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“Bound by love and time.” by Holly Guy

Submitted to Contest #145

TW: Swearing. There she was, standing alone in the mass of bodies all queuing for the Cotton Candy stand. As usual, she was attracted to this god-awful carnival ball. It didn’t matter which human form she took, each lifetime, something in her golden soul would bring her back to the sparkling lights, extravagant dress-sense and greasy, fast-food. I could feel the sweat licking my skin as I looked upon her for the first time in this new form. She wore scarlet. The blood-like sparkles cascaded down her slender form, snatching in at her wais...

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“The Red Bell Bottom Jeans” by Cynthia Maria Grace

Submitted to Contest #145

TRIGGER WARNING: Some references to Sexual Abuse, Suicide, Physical Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health.A few years ago, I was going through old pictures from an antique trunk in my mother’s attic. She was a collector of all things, although she would never admit to being a hoarder. She had collected so many items, she was considering renting extra space. So, we convinced her it was time to purge. As my sisters and I separated the pictures among us, I paused on one photograph of me standing in the dessert outside my grand...

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“The Diary of an Invisible Man,” by Eric Falvey

Submitted to Contest #145

*TW Profanity*I had never imagined my life like this. Looking around in an overstuffed storage locker at the odd collection of things that had represented my journey. No, pictures, no accolades, nothing to suggest that I had even existed. At 32 years old, every artifact in my life was a lifeless piece of junk. Just another meaningless entry into the diary of an invisible man.This was never my intention. There once was a time where many around me would have imagined that I would excel socially, and wind up successful. I was certainly smart en...

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“Coffee, Silk and Chocolate Pie” by Kennedy Cole

Submitted to Contest #145

“What do you think?""Hmm?" He looks up from his book and to his love. She tips her head towards the large, fixed window of the café that they are seated outside of, pressed close together on the short bench.He sees their reflection, her head resting on his chest, his arm across her shoulders. The steam billows from the tops of their coffee mugs sitting on the glass-top, patio table in front of them. Her half-eaten cinnamon roll remains abandoned on the edge of the table and his slice of chocolate pie awaits his inevitable consumption of the ...

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“Reapers!!” by John Wilson

Submitted to Contest #145

I stepped over the mossy log and continued down the hill. The forest was cool, unlike the city, dirty, and full of the smell of dead corpses. The smell of the woods was different, it was fresh, clear, not musty. I spent most of my time in the woods now, staying away from the city as much as possible. The site of the corpses scattered across the city filled me with, anger. None of those people had done anything to deserve this, to be gunned down by the army, then left to rot. They didn’t deserve the Seed either, or the Cycle. But out in...

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“One Hot Night” by Mark Linsky

Submitted to Contest #145

One Hot Night Carolyn Wellsley Bochar was the wealthiest woman residing on the Cap d’ Azure. She was able to lay claim to the title thanks to the genius and wealth of her late husband Norman who knew a great deal about fine wine, valuable re...

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“The Dress Would Be Mine” by Jeanne DeFauw

Submitted to Contest #145

The dress would be mine one day. I would float down the aisle on my father’s arm wearing a champagne-colored, hand-stitched, beaded v-neck sheath dress handed down by my Grandmother June. She wore it for her wedding in 1942 before my grandfather went to the war in Europe. She came from a wealthy family and had a large society wedding. Grandpa Ed Senior returned from the war, they had my Dad and lived a contented life until he died many years later. For 70 years, the dress laid in a box, preserved for me, her eldest grandfather, to we...

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“The Dress” by Amber Versailles

Submitted to Contest #145

Lulu loved watching her mother sew. It was a delicate art, weaving needle and thread to join two parts of cloth together and creating intricate embroideries. Lulu herself tried to imitate what she saw – under her mother’s guidance – only twice before she’d had enough of pricking herself with the fine needle. Instead, she was perfectly content sitting on the arm of the old sofa, peering over her mother’s shoulder as she worked in the rocking chair. She would draw the focused look her mother’s face had as she worked, and her nimble hands. She ...

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“Sequins” by Percy George

Submitted to Contest #145

He ran his fingers along the smooth material of the clothing, unknowingly falling in love with it. If someone were to ask him why he loved it so much his answer would hardly make sense to anyone but him; he just did. 17-year-old Simone couldn’t grasp the concept as to why someone would want to throw out such a beautiful article of clothing, sitting perfectly in the trash bin, untouched. He couldn’t stop himself when his fist tightened around the shiny cloth and he pulled it from the trash bin, stuffing it prudently into his messenger bag....

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“It's Called Fashion, Look it Up” by Hildegard Darling

Submitted to Contest #145

"Look at this one!" My mom and her friend were sitting at the big table where we sometimes eat dinner when Grandma and Grandpa come over, giggling together. "And this one!" My mom snorted "Have you ever seen something so ridiculous?" "It's called fashion," her friend said snootily. "Look it up." "What's so funny Mama?" I asked. "We're looking at the-" But the rest of her words disappeared as I caught sight of what was on the computer screen. Men and women strutted down a red carpet, wearing the most glamourous clothes I had ever see...

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$250

Prize money

165

Contest entries

96

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 13, 2022 EST

Won by Avery Mossop 🏆

Title: The Overalls

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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