Governor-elect Perdue to wear red silk gown for inaugural ball

RALEIGH -- As results rolled in on election night, and the gubernatorial race was called for Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, Lynda Bunn knew she had her work cut out for her.

The Wilson-area clothing designer and dressmaker of Lynda's Couture has worked with Perdue for four years providing most of the governor-elect's clothing for major and daily events, including almost everything she wore during the campaign.

So as soon as Bunn learned that Perdue had won the election, she knew it was time to get to work on two important outfits for two historic events: the inaugural ball and the subsequent inauguration ceremony in which Perdue, the first woman elected governor in North Carolina, will be sworn in. With a client on-the-go, however, this turned out to be a challenge.

"I couldn't get to her right after the election," Bunn said. "It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving when we first met. And I was booked. So basically what I did was give up my vacation for Christmas. But she's worth it."

The trust Perdue has put in Bunn has helped the word-of-mouth buzz of her business but from the dressmaker's standpoint, Perdue is anything but the ideal client.

"From a voter's view, and someone who lives in North Carolina, I'd rather her be just like she is," said Bunn. "She is not concerned about her clothes. She doesn't spend any time on them. She wants them right, wants them to look good, wants them to be comfortable, she wants them to last forever, and she doesn't want them to be expensive."

"But from my end of it, it's a nightmare because you want her to look elegant. You want her to be the absolute best but she is much more focused on work and concerned with not having distractions to her work. So it's sometimes a juggling act."

Perdue is all too familiar with the juggling act. As she explains, you get to where she is by being tough and avoiding labels. At the same time, as a woman, she takes pleasure in being able to have more fun with clothes than her male counterparts.

"It's the fun of being a woman on the trail," said Perdue. "The guys all look the same. I think a woman has the opportunity to have a little more fun with color and clothes."

For Perdue, the red double-layer silk-chiffon beaded gown she will wear Friday night to the inaugural ball is a once-in-a-lifetime dress, for a few reasons.

"I felt really feminine. I tried it on in the lieutenant governor's office just the other day and I said I had never felt like a princess.

"I did a twirl," she said, laughing.

Friday night will be the only time Perdue, or anyone for that matter, wears the dress. Following the ball, it will be given to the North Carolina Museum of History as a notable addition to a collection of First Lady dresses.

"I hope that the most remarkable thing I do in the four years is not to have my dress on display," Perdue said. "That's a real wonderful thing to do but I won't spend a whole lot of time thinking about that dress."

"But in 150 years, there will be some little girl who walks through there and sees my dress and lot of other little dresses and maybe she'll say, ‘Wow, there really was a day in North Carolina's history when somebody did this first.' Can you imagine that day? This is a day of history and the presidential inauguration is a day of history. The country's changed."

This weekend, wearing a red silk ball gown and a simple metal bracelet sent to her mother from her father as he fought in World War II, Perdue hopes to be a force for change, taking the reins of North Carolina's government and, gracefully, the title of madame governor, because as Bunn points out, "even the worst tomboys have to be a girl once in a while."