Susan Maupin Schmid
A Tale of Two Stories
When I was in first grade, my teacher read Eleanor Estes’s The Hundred Dresses, out loud to the class. The story is about Wanda, who is persecuted by her schoolmates for owning only one dress. Wanda counters by describing the one hundred dresses she claims are waiting in her closet at home. The story ends when Wanda moves away. At that point, her tormentors discover her empty house with its tiny, empty closet and feel remorse for teasing her. The story made me angry. And I never forgot it.
As I grew older, the book haunted me. Eventually, I hunted up a copy and reread it, thinking I’d like it better as an adult. But I didn’t. So I began analyzing what it was about that book that angered me so.
And I realized what it was: Wanda is never vindicated in the story. There are no dresses. And there should have been! So I set out to write a new story, one with a hundred dresses. I read up on Queen Elizabeth and Empress Anna of Russia, both whom were famous for the size of their lavish wardrobes. But something was missing. Just having a hundred dresses wasn’t enough.
My childhood-self wanted a book that lived up to the promise in the title: the dream of being more than ordinary. More than just a hundred dresses—excitement, princesses, adventure, dragons, suspense and one hundred magical dresses. So I wrote the book I’d always wanted to read.
When I was in first grade, my teacher read Eleanor Estes’s The Hundred Dresses, out loud to the class. The story is about Wanda, who is persecuted by her schoolmates for owning only one dress. Wanda counters by describing the one hundred dresses she claims are waiting in her closet at home. The story ends when Wanda moves away. At that point, her tormentors discover her empty house with its tiny, empty closet and feel remorse for teasing her. The story made me angry. And I never forgot it.
As I grew older, the book haunted me. Eventually, I hunted up a copy and reread it, thinking I’d like it better as an adult. But I didn’t. So I began analyzing what it was about that book that angered me so.
And I realized what it was: Wanda is never vindicated in the story. There are no dresses. And there should have been! So I set out to write a new story, one with a hundred dresses. I read up on Queen Elizabeth and Empress Anna of Russia, both whom were famous for the size of their lavish wardrobes. But something was missing. Just having a hundred dresses wasn’t enough.
My childhood-self wanted a book that lived up to the promise in the title: the dream of being more than ordinary. More than just a hundred dresses—excitement, princesses, adventure, dragons, suspense and one hundred magical dresses. So I wrote the book I’d always wanted to read.
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