Kansas Woman Proves You Can Totally Rewear Your Bridesmaid Dress

There’s nothing worse than shelling out some big bucks on multiple bridesmaid dresses you know you’ll never wear despite multiple pleas from the bride that of course you will wear the dress again. So instead of resenting these frocks that are probably collecting dust in your closet, play adult dress-up and live out loud.

That’s what Heidi Mann is doing. When Mann walked down the aisle as a bridesmaid at friend Tammi Sauer’s wedding, she wore an off-the-shoulder, floor-length maroon velvet gown. While Mann looked stunning at Sauer’s 1995 wedding, today the hand-made dress style looks a bit dated. That’s why Sauer apologized to her bridesmaids in a Facebook post celebrating her 22nd wedding anniversary.

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“I remember eagerly telling my bridesmaids that they could just shorten their gowns and they’d have great little cocktail dresses,” Sauer told TODAY. “I don’t think anyone ever followed through on that suggestion.”

Fortunately Mann found a way to wear her dress all these years later. On Sauer’s wedding anniversary post, Mann responded to Sauer’s apology, “What do you mean sorry about the dresses? I wear mine all the time.”

And boy, does she!

“[For 25 years], I’ve been known to randomly put one of (my former bridesmaid dresses) on, join whatever the family is doing and act like it’s completely normal to be wearing an off-the-shoulder evening gown,” Mann said. “Of course, we all just crack up, like the guffaw-turns-silent-turns-choking kind of cracking up.”

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Not only does Mann still fit in her wedding dress but she also totally rocks the look—even when working with power tools or doing the laundry.

“I knew it would make Tammi laugh, too, so I did it. My son took the pictures, my daughter rolled her eyes at me, the neighbors stared, the dogs thought I had lost my legs and my husband asked me why I was wearing a lampshade, but everyone had a good laugh,” said Mann.

And Sauer certainly laughed. In fact, she even joked that she would wear her wedding dress the next time she saw Mann. Too funny!