There are dresses you buy because they’re beautiful. And then there are dresses you buy because you hope they’ll turn you into someone else.

I bought the dress after seeing girls online wearing it effortlessly rooftop parties, mirror selfies, smiles that looked natural instead of practiced. The dress was expensive, popular, impossible to ignore. I told myself I bought it because it was elegant, but honestly, I think I just wanted to feel like the kind of girl who belonged inside dresses like that.
When the package arrived, I opened it slowly like it carried another version of me inside. The dress felt bold, striking, almost intimidating. And the fit was perfect. That almost made it worse.

Because when I stood in front of the mirror wearing it, I kept wondering if this was what people felt when they wore expensive branded dresses everyone talked about. But even after wearing it, I still felt no connection with the dress or with the girl staring back at me.

The dress was beautiful. Truly beautiful. The fabric, the silhouette, the way it moved when I walked none of that was the problem. The problem was believing beauty could fix something deeper.

That night, I hung the dress back in my cupboard and stared at it quietly. A beautiful dress can change how you look. But changing how you feel inside? I still don’t know what does that.