After a discount of 20%, the dress Sharon wanted was $85. What was the original price of the dress?

(1-.20)*P=85

solve for P

85/x=80/100

(i got 80 because it was 100%-20%)
85*100 = 80*x
8500=80x divide both sides by 80
x = $106.25

thanx! so much my manager doesn't know how to do this... haha

To find the original price of the dress before the discount, you can use the formula:

Original price = Discounted price / (1 - Discount rate)

In this case, the discounted price is $85 and the discount rate is 20%. To convert the discount rate to a decimal, divide it by 100: 20 / 100 = 0.2

Now, substitute the values into the formula:

Original price = $85 / (1 - 0.2)
Original price = $85 / 0.8

To solve for the original price, divide $85 by 0.8:
Original price = $106.25

Therefore, the original price of the dress was $106.25.