I would guess the claim afterwards that she couldn’t was rationalization, and that the real reason was she was stunned with surprise, just based on the sense that I can’t imagine the dress was really that restrictive
The dress was my speculation (and not that it was restrictive, but that it was buoyant under her legs). Her claim was that her legs wouldn’t go down, and while I haven’t tested this myself in water I think this is probably right: you need to bend your legs to get them under you, and she was keeping them straight due to inexperience with water.
The dress was my speculation (and not that it was restrictive, but that it was buoyant under her legs). Her claim was that her legs wouldn’t go down, and while I haven’t tested this myself in water I think this is probably right: you need to bend your legs to get them under you, and she was keeping them straight due to inexperience with water.