Smolder was incredibly proud of the dress she made in Professor Rarity's garment sewing class, using floral curtains and a white table cloth she found at the Ponyville thrift store, and matching plain fabric gifted by her generous teacher for the skirt.

Smolder's family did their best to be supportive as always, especially after learning she made the garment herself. Even if they didn't care much for the style of the dress, they were impressed by the level of skill it took to create it. But by the time Caldera learned this fact, she'd already regrettably made comments alluding to her opinion that it was too extreme.
Smolder understood her mother's discomfort and didn't mind her suggestion to wear more... traditional jewelry with the outfit. After all, there is nothing wrong with dragon jewelry and Smolder quite likes it.

Professor Rarity had lots of questions about the jewelry, of course. Still quite ignorant about the rich and diverse history of dragons, she was fascinated by the cultural significance of certain symbols and gems, as well as the revelation that dragon fashion history spans hundreds of millennia. For the time being Smolder decided to brush off the fact that her teacher was so taken aback by dragons having such a complex history. She was happy the unicorn showed interest.