COLUMBUS, Neb. — One look at the emerald green dress and Astrea Garcia knew it was the one.
Gold sequins covered the bodice, snaking onto the sleeves that draped off the shoulder.
Alma Sagastume pins a tiara into Astrea’s hair. In a quinceañera, tiaras are meant to symbolize a girl’s beauty and mark her new status as an adult.
In the fitting room, Alma Sagastume laced Astrea into the corset. She fluffed the layers of glittery tulle petticoats into place, and showed Astrea where to grab the hoop skirt buried under the massive dress to make it easier for the 4-foot-10 girl to walk.
It’s a ritual Sagastume has guided teenage girls through for eight years at My 15 City, her dress and decorations shop in northeast Nebraska.
“It’s not the dress, it’s the attitude of the quinceañera,” she tells Astrea in Spanish.
Come January, Astrea will turn 15. With …