Azalea A R E L U C T A N T
Belle
Donning her
Azalea Belle dress
for the first time,
Mary Margaret
kept her hair
short in those
days to maintain
her boyish
appearance.
It was 1985. I was fifteen and my life
was on track. I had found my calling,
and that calling had absolutely nothing
whatsoever to do with wearing a dress
— any kind of dress — and certainly
not one of those frilly, full-length,
hot, breath-stealing, uncomfort-able
antebellum affairs that grace
the North Carolina Azalea
Festival each year. No way. I
was a tomboy through and
through and I ate, drank
and slept running. My
Olympic dreams had no
place for playing dress-up
as Scarlett O’Hara!
Enter my mom,
Mary Lou
McEachern,
the former
beauty queen
with a penchant
for style and everything defining femi-ninity.
Her priorities were the antithesis
of mine; she loved flowers, fancy clothes,
makeup, jewelry and entertaining. She
was thoughtful, caring, and loved by
all who knew her. An active member of
the Cape Fear Garden Club, she had
dedicated much of her life to the garden
tour and the Azalea Belles; and her only
daughter was going to be an Azalea Belle
and that was that.
Adept at getting what she wanted
out of my dad and me while making
us think we were getting our way, my
mom used my then-obsession with fame,
convincing me that being an Azalea Belle
would somehow make me famous. She
showered me with promises. I would
be the cover girl for a local magazine. I
would ride a parade float. I would get to
hang out the whole time with my best
friend, also a tomboy. I bit hard, and
just like that, I found myself in the unfa-miliar
and makeup. I had to learn to walk like
a girl. My friend and I endured all man-ner
short of torture.
Defiantly refusing to put on panta-loons,
my dress, reasoning that no one would
ever know. The hoop skirt, an undergar-ment
bell-like shape, rendered negotiating
tight spaces all but impossible. Rigorous
ribbon cutting rehearsals challenged
our stamina as we fought heat and ter-rain
34
WBM april 2019
Not every young
woman is born
dreaming of ribbons,
frills and hoop skirts PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARY MARGARET McEACHERN
world of dress fittings, rehearsals
of what, at the time, seemed nothing
I opted for soccer shorts under
providing the dress with its classic
in those uncomfortable outfits.
BY MARY MARGARET McEACHERN