Bring Your Own is a nomadic storytelling series that takes place in unconventional spaces within the community. Each month, eight storytellers have seven minutes to respond to a theme. BYO airs on All Things New Orleans and is a biweekly podcast on WWNO.org. This story was told on September 28th, 2017 at the CAC, and later produced by Laine Kaplan-Levenson. The theme of the evening was "The Thing Is" and here, Alia Alie describes a dress her grandmother made for her, that she wears not only for style, but as a most honest representation of her homeland. That BYO was in partnership with Project:Object and the Stacks Bookstore. The next event is on November 17 th , as part of Court 13’s Always for Pleasure Festival. More info at bringyourownstories.com.