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

Posted in High School on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 20 stories

“Love at First Snipe” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #145

He’s a quiet, retiring illusionist on the run from the world. I’m a classically trained assassin who was sent to kill him. We were bound to fall in love. I know what you’re thinking. Rayelle, Rayelle, isn’t it a breach of contract that goes against everything you were taught at the academy? Well, yes, but shut up. You don’t choose who you fall in love with. You choose the price you negotiated to be paid to kill him. &...

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“Ms. World ” by Simrin Dhillon

Submitted to Contest #145

India looked around the dressing room and chuckled lightly to herself. Canada looked like she was about to excuse herself to pass out in the back room, and Japan clearly didn’t know how to breath beneath that corset. She took a moment to pat down her saree, the orange and yellow fabric smoothening out beneath her as she traced her hands against the fine silk. India knew she was a fierce contender for Ms. World, and she would have happily taken the crown (and the prize money) on the first day were it not for one thing standing in her way.&nbs...

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“Slipping on Dreams” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #145

Once upon a time, in a city where the dreams were as big and glittering as the glass towers scraping the sky, a ball was announced to which the rich and the beautiful would be invited. Cards, stamped in real gold leaf and sprayed with scent, were issued. The chosen few rang their favourite designers and instructed them to cancel all other appointments, until that memorable day in May. In a land far far away, where the dreams were just as big but the chance of achieving them somewhat smaller, Elaro slipped on her flipflops ...

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“Masked Prison” by Jules Davis

Submitted to Contest #145

The magician led Evie to a room she had never been to before. There were a lot of rooms she had not been to within that vast house that seemed to contain entire countries behind its locked doors. Her midnight blue dress, a gift from the magician, shuffled at her feet as she attempted to keep up with his long strides. Each of her steps caused the shimmer of her dress to catch on the candlelight; sparkles danced on the walls around them as they glided down the halls. They came to a door with an ornate handle. It looked old and untouched f...

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“Dazed and Dazzled by Dior” by Anne Perry

Submitted to Contest #145

Dazed and dazzled by the Dior collection of haute couture at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dorian experienced a liminal moment of decided, delirious spiritual bliss. In this state, he could hardly remember his own name or why he had come again (his sixteenth visit to the exhibit in 19 days—oh, why, why were they closed on Mondays?) Bumping into a young woman who stood with a sketchbook in front of a dazzling gingko-leaf printed draped masterpiece, his drawing diary disengaged from his arms, and a dozen sheaves of watercolor paper descend...

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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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“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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“Masquerade” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #145

His eyes reflected his anticipation as he lingered from the shadows of the veranda, silently awaiting her arrival, their blueness deepening to midnight black.Adrianna stepped onto the lengthy veranda. It was an unseasonably warm evening in Venice this February, and she hoped to catch the breeze coming off the water. Even though she had not yet danced, her face behind the mask she wore was finely misted with perspiration. She could feel small rivulets of the same running down between her breasts beneath the heavy eighteenth century costume th...

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“The Midnight Un-Masquerade” by Gem Cassia

Submitted to Contest #145

I wake up in somebody else’s shoes. The reins of sleep still encircle my wrists and throat like strands of pearls, but this single ray of knowledge slices through the veil like the glint of a sharpened jewel. I know nothing else, but on this my faith is unshakeable— these are no shoes of mine. Like sheaths of molten ruby cradling the arch of my foot, grasping my ankles with clinging, bloodied fingers, they feel like an ossified skin encasing my tender flesh. I peer at them through the single standing mirror leaning agai...

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“Something to Somebody” by Sawyer Fox

Submitted to Contest #145

Anna hadn’t slept in nearly three days. If the swollen bags under her eyes weren’t enough of an indication, her snappy attitude was sure to clue anybody in. Her assistant, Miles would probably be the one getting the worst of it; at least he was used to her sleepless irritability. She sat in her bedroom at the vanity in the corner, waiting for Elisha, her makeup artist, to arrive. She stared deeply into her own swollen, bloodshot eyes until they lost focus. Then she would snap out of it and start it all over again. Had she dreamt the past twe...

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“Talking Heads” by Jared Wing

Submitted to Contest #145

“Send this back. The code is all wrong.” Mario said to his virtual assistant. “Send it back to VIP Virch and tell Amber to redo this. I can’t look like this at the Milky Way Gala.” Mario was used to being disappointed. Despite being one of the richest men in the Metaverse, he still couldn’t get his reality to match the one in his mind. They called him eccentric but he preferred specific. He didn’t want anything wild or out of the ordinary, he just wanted him, Mario Bindini. The Metaverse had been created to make everyone's ideal life ...

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“The Metamorphose Gala ” by Jai New

Submitted to Contest #145

The Metamorphose Gala. By the stars, the colours! Such wondrous explosions of unbridled peacockery never before have i witnessed. Beautiful women wrapped in velvet, cashmere and Arachnian lace. Tall slender men cut out handsomely in shades of green and russet linen. The guests are dotted about in the great ballroom and each group appears to me like a grove of new sprung and exotic flowers. Floating press pods hum about everywhere, flashing photos, recording gossip and lavishing much attention on the swooping necklines of the younger ...

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“Robot Wear” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #145

Every day is a global fashion event when you are a Targeted Individual. The T.I. is not the fashion connoisseur, it is the stalkers, who revel in making decisions on what to wear to cause suffering to the T.I. Perhaps the stalkers mistakenly believe that the decisions they make in the clothing they wear will somehow trigger the T.I. into doing, saying, or even thinking something that is not in the T.I.’s best mental, emotional, spiritual, physical or financial best interests. Imagine, this world, then, that the T.I. lives in. People don’t be...

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“Ready. Set. Pose.” by Jordan Tope

Submitted to Contest #145

"Ready. Set. Pose."That was not the song I expected to hear as I waited for the show to start. I had heard it before, but I couldn't place the name or artist. I sat next to The Madame, my boss, as we waited for the fashion show to start. This one had somehow been announced as a global event. Apparently, the designer thought very highly of themselves and their line."What was the theme again?" I was not the Madame's regular assistance. She usually called in sick with a hangover. Eye roll."It's called: Banking Institution!" Her boss sounded lik...

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“My Lady Darkness” by C.L. Linz

Submitted to Contest #145

The woods I run through alone in the dead of night are my sanctuary, the fresh air cleansing me of the filth from the group home where I stay. Aromatic scents of pine and wet earth bring my senses alive as the dew drops from the foliage baptize me in nature’s name and awaken my spirit. The woodlands of the Pacific Northwest have always been my safe space. Mom and Dad started bringing me here from the time I could walk; we would hike, camp, and hunt. Pretty much anything to do with nature we would do. Now that they’re gone, I try to come here...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 20 stories

“Love at First Snipe” by Graham Kinross

“Ms. World ” by Simrin Dhillon

“Slipping on Dreams” by Rebecca Miles

“Masked Prison” by Jules Davis

“Dazed and Dazzled by Dior” by Anne Perry

“Bound by love and time.” by Holly Guy

“Sequins” by Percy George

“Masquerade” by Cindy Calder

“The Midnight Un-Masquerade” by Gem Cassia

“Something to Somebody” by Sawyer Fox

“Talking Heads” by Jared Wing

“The Metamorphose Gala ” by Jai New

“Robot Wear” by Minerva Noiropp

“Ready. Set. Pose.” by Jordan Tope

“My Lady Darkness” by C.L. Linz

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

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

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

Contest #145

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

166

Contest entries

96

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: