No prom date? No problem. Teen's unique outfit lets him become his own date
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Prom, that much-ballyhooed social event, can be nerve-wracking for high schoolers. Worries arise over who to go with and what to wear. Unless you're Wyatt Cheatle.
Cheatle, 16, decided to skip the anxiety and go as his own date to the prom, creating a his-and-her dress with suit to match. The Brighton High School junior showed off his creation at the junior prom Saturday, April 27, at St. John Fisher College.
"I decided to go myself, 'cause frankly it's easier than finding out who's going with who, or who's not going," Wyatt said. "So I figured I'd be my own date, since I know myself better than any other person. I figured I'd have a good time.”
The outfit started off as a joke. Wyatt told his family at dinner he was going to wear a dress and was told he wouldn’t look half bad. It took off from there.
His mom, Kelly Cheatle, helped with his creation.
“We went to Goodwill and picked up a bunch of different dresses to see what we could put together at home, and a nice shirt and black pants," Wyatt Cheatle said. "My mom’s a genius."
Mom created most of the outfit, with Wyatt helping to rip the seams out of one of the dresses to make the skirt.
Kelly Cheatle was so proud of her son's individuality, she shared the experience on the social network Reddit.
"My son was flying solo to the prom and decided that he'd be his own date. One thing led to another and the week before the big event, he decided rather than going with a boring old suit, we'd split the difference and send him in a half suit/half-dress," she wrote on Reddit.
"After a mad dash to the local thrift store, lots of cutting and rearranging, we were done. Didn't quite have time to find him shoes to match, but there's always senior prom hahahaha."
More: Teen asks wrong girl to prom — and it's caught on video
As for the reaction on prom night: "There were a few people who were surprised that I went through with it. But no one was a jerk about it and I got a lot of compliments,” he said.
“Overall I had a good time. I knew almost everybody there, so even though I showed up on my own, there were lots of other people to talk to.”
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: No prom date? No problem. Teen's unique outfit lets him become his own date
