America: 50☆Stars (Vol. 3)

Episode 19: The Strawberry Dress

Another day indoors. Another day in sweats. Another average day in a pandemic.

An earthquake frightened North Carolina as well as gave her some back pains, forcing her to remain home until she got better. In the meantime, she had to find ways to occupy her time. She did some work on her laptop. She binged on Netflix. She took a nap. She groaned into a pillow and complained about 2020 sucking a load of garbage. She hugged her dogs to try and feel better. Once she felt relaxed, she went on social media to see what her friends were doing while she lie under a blanket on her couch.

"That's cute," she mumbled, liking the photo of a pink strawberry dress. For some odd reason, she didn't continue scrolling for more posts. Her eyes remained planted on the woman twirling around in the frilly dress. Her heart was envious. Her heart wanted to break away from the shackles of wrinkled T-shirts and gray sweatpants. Her heart wanted to be like the woman in the picture. She wanted to skip around town without a care for what was happening to the world. Before long, she was searching for a website that sold the strawberry dress.

She was overcome with shock when she saw the price that was listed online. "What the heck? $500?" North Carolina later learned the strawberry dress originated from an independent designer brand from New York City. That would explain the giant price tag. Plopping her head back on the pillow, she groaned, "There's no way I can afford that in this economy. It's such a cute dress though..."

There were imitations of the strawberry dress being sold online for a couple of cheap bucks. However, such an alluring value often matched its quality. North Carolina didn't want a rip-off, nor did she want to support such shameless companies. As much as she hated the price of the real thing, she understood where it was coming from after watching DIYs on YouTube. The amount of time and labor needed to make a simple-looking replica was an eye-opener. Somehow, it didn't discourage her. Rather, it was encouraging to see it was possible to make a high-quality dress without having to spend a lot of capital—with much of the cost devoted to time and labor on her part.

"No problem," she smirked. "I have a lot of time on my hands because of this dumb pandemic. I just need to order the materials and dust off my sewing machine. I'll have myself a dress that'll make my stupid sister shut up and stare in spite."

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While most states arrived at the States Annual Meeting in business attire (and masks), North Carolina stood out for showing up in a pastel pink strawberry-printed tea dress (with a matching mask). The dress wasn't appropriate for the occasion, however, she wanted to surprise everyone as well as physically show off what she made after a long week. At the expense of getting scolded by Washington D.C, she got the reactions she wanted. Even better, she made her sister turn green with envy like an unripened strawberry.

"Did the pandemic drive her crazy? She's never the type to act cutesy," South Carolina grumbled, watching her sister receive compliments from their fellow states.

"You look so nice today," Minnesota smiled.

"I say you're berry beautiful," Wisconsin giggled.

"Lookin' good, Strawberry Shortcake," Louisiana flattered her as she took a seat at the conference table.

"Oh my gosh! Is that the strawberry dress?" California gasped. "I bought one, too, but it's at home."

"Actually, this dress is handmade by me," North Carolina corrected.

"What? Are you fucking serious? It totally looks like the real thing! Amazing!"

"I know. It took me about a week, but I'm pleased with how it turned out." She twirled in her dress, further getting on her sister's nerves.

Shortly after entering the room, Tennessee waved in her direction. "Hey—"

"Stop calling her pretty!" South Carolina exploded, startling everyone.

He scowled, "Geez. What's gotten your panties in a bunch?"

"It's the strawberry dress I'm wearing," North Carolina smirked. "She's pricklier than a porcupine because I look pretty wearing this dress."

She scoffed, "Don't go making dumb assumptions. Sure, the strawberry dress is pretty, but it's wasted making you slightly charming. That dress is better worn by the likes of me."

"Keep telling yourself that. It doesn't change the fact I'm currently wearing the strawberry dress while you're not."

She huffed, turning the other cheek, "Whatever. I don't need an overrated dress to make myself more beautiful than you. I have a huge wardrobe of dresses that are more gorgeous than the one you're wearing." Expecting a sassy remark, she was shocked to see her sister get distracted by the other states giving her more praise. "H-Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Why should we give you attention?" California questioned unimpressed. "You're not wearing the strawberry dress from TikTok. Like, why should we care about you?"

"Because I'm way prettier than my sister!"

"Not in those clothes, you are."

"Shove it, bimbo! I still look pretty in a business skirt!"

Stepping into the conference room, Washington D.C. witnessed the commotion surrounding the Carolinas and sighed, "I knew I should've held the meeting on a Zoom call."

~ Hetalia! ~

Hey, hey, daddy, get me a Pepsi!
Hey, hey, mommy, hey, hey, mommy!
I cannot forget the taste of that
Sweet potato pie I ate before!

Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
I'm North Carolina!

Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Looking closely, that's the Earth!
Or maybe, that's the Earth?
I'm the Tar Heel State!

Ah, with just a brushstroke,
A wonderful world can be seen!
Let's shag along to some beach music!
North Carolina!

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+ "The Strawberry Dress" is a ruffled pink tulle midi dress covered in shimmering sequin strawberries designed by Lirika Matoshi in July 2019. Despite being available and showcased a year earlier, the strawberry dress went viral on social media in August 2020, dubbed "the dress of the summer." Its rise in popularity correlated with the rise of cottagecore aesthetics amid a gloomy pandemic. Contrary to wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants in quarantine, the strawberry dress radiated a fanciful sense of romantic escapism from the modern world; some people described the dress as something a Disney princess would wear. Anyone who bought the pretty pink dress would receive lots of likes and comments on posts of them wearing the dress. Those who couldn't afford the dress's expensive price tag at around $500 were nonetheless inspired to make their own version at home or draw their favorite characters donning the dress.

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