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We’ve all heard the expression “beauty is pain.” But one Bachelorette took that idiom to a whole new level. On the first night of her season, Michelle Young wore a dress that weighed nearly 45 pounds.
Everything’s a Tradeoff
ABCMichelle Young in 45-pound dress.
The Couture dressmaker who designed the “shimmery, metallic” gown, Randi Rahm, told Insider that although Young looked beautiful while greeting her suitors, she “may have been in physical pain.”
Rahm further explained, the dress was heavily beaded and backless, “which puts a lot of the weight onto the neck. That’s painful.” In addition, “The weight of it on her neck, it can cut into you after a while,” Rahm asserted.
The designer warned people at home not to attempt the daring feat of hanging 45 pounds of fashion around their necks. Apparently, that kind of torture should be left to the professionals.
Making matters even worse, according to Insider, is that it can take countless hours to film the first episode, sometimes an entire night. So, Young had to bear the weight of the dress for an inordinate amount of time.
Why would Rahm even make a dress like that? Her explanation is that “some of these beaded gowns are not made to wear 24 hours. They’re made to wear for an event.” However, the designer knows who she is making the dresses for, and what wearing them entails. According to Insider, Rahm has “created a majority of the evening gowns worn by women on ‘The Bachelorette’” since 2003.
Perhaps the better question is, why would Young agree to wear it? Insider reports that “leads on the show tend to wear sparkly dresses because the entrance driveway is wet and the gown needs to be one that can absorb water and dirt easily.” All in the name of beauty and TV, apparently.
Rahm does try to make adjustments to make the gowns less painful, but she can only do so much. Even adding extra fabric to protect the skin from sharp sequins can become a futile effort, because “the sheer weight of the dress can make the experience uncomfortable ‘no matter what.’” Ultimately, the choice is up to the Bachelorettes. “It’s the girls who, ultimately, choose every single thing they wear,” Rahm told Insider.
Was it Worth It?
Young ended up leaving her season engaged to Nayte Olukoya, so she might have felt the pain was worth the outcome. At first. However, the couple broke up in June 2022, just six months after they got engaged. So, the basketball star might have to rethink whether the agony of looking so stunning was worth it.
According to People, “In May 2022, Young shot down rumors of a split from Olukoya after a video began circulating where she was seen without her engagement ring. The fifth grade teacher posted a series of videos addressing the breakup speculation on her Instagram Story, and reminded fans that she and Olukoya are ‘human beings — not a zoo exhibit.’”
It wasn’t long after, however, that the two publicly announced their breakup on Instagram. Young posted, “I’m struggling to say that Nayte and I will be going our separate ways but I stand with him in knowing the heaviness that is present in both of our hearts as this relationship has been very real for us.”