Finlayson wearing the dress that set off the firestorm. Photo courtesy Kristy Kimball.

When 16-year-old Gabi Finlayson went to Paris with her mother and brother in December, she only bought one thing: a light pink dress with lace overlay that fell just below the knee. She planned to wear it to an upcoming high school dance. “I loved it,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “It reminded me of Audrey Hepburn. It seemed like a classic dress I could wear forever.” 

So on Saturday night, the Utah high school junior couldn’t wait to show up at the dance. “Being a 16-year-old girl, it’s hard to find something that makes you feel pretty and when you do, you want to share it,” she says. But instead of feeling like the belle of the ball, Finlayson ended up feeling shamed and embarrassed, she says, when she was asked to cover up her bare shoulders.