Once upon a time, a young and angst-ridden Scarlett enrolled in high school and embarked upon her Goth Years. She avoided the sun at all costs (even smack in the middle of the Mediterranean during a heat wave in August - thankfully Crete has a number of caves), she vowed to read the entirety of the Poe canon in chronological order, she did not eat, she frequented Hot Topic. On one fortunate trip to this fine establishment, little Scarlett happened upon an article of clothing that widened her kohl-lined eyes and brought a modicum of joy to her black and heavy heart: a Vinyl Dress. Oh, it was perfect: shiny and black and wildly inappropriate.

Thus began a glorious partnership. Scarlett wore her dress to dances at her academic (and corrupting) summer camp. She incorporated it into the best Halloween costume ever, accessorizing it with sh*t-kicking boots, spiderweb thigh-highs, black trench coat and suberbly ghoulish The Crow makeup (duly frightening her Pre-Calc teacher, and probably some little freshmen as well). Off went Scarlett to college with her shiny dress in tow. Though no longer a gothling, she relished the chance to get all sexied up in a costume that was supposed to represent Sinfulness (see picture 1).

Fast-forward to last night: Scarlett has earned her diploma, moved to the fair city of San Francisco, discovered a game called SF0, and is embroiled in a War of Escalating Dares with her valliant roommate Bex. As Scarlett is preparing to depart from this coast (and, soon, this country), a deadline is set for the culmination of this battle (stay tuned!). The competitors brainstormed embarrassing dares late into the night, testing the limits of what they could expect each other to do in public. Inspired to incorporate socially-inapproprate outfits into the dares, Scarlett suggests a late-night dress-up to get into the daring groove. Up leapt our Players: Bex to don her polka-dotted leisure suit, and Scarlett her trusty vinyl dress.

But alas!

Just as Scarlett succeeded at zipping the snug-fitting garment, she heard a sound distinctly like unzipping and felt her upper back exposed. Alarmed, she moved towards the door calling for the aid of a Hero; this slight movement caused the split zipper to open entirely, while the zipper pull itself dangled from between her shoulder blades. With a truly noble and powerful effort, Bex managed to move the zipper pull slightly, but it became clear to all parties that the dress would have to be removed by Other Means. This evening tragically marked the end of Scarlett's ownership of a shiny, shiny tube dress. And yet, being cut out of a tight garment by a sexy lady was a lot of fun!