Ball gown - sorted!
Nov. 25th, 2007 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janewilliams20We did go round and look in shops, honest. All we found were slinky things, usually in pastel colours. I am not slinky, and do not do pastels. So, back to the online option, which arrived only two days after I'd ordered it - and from Shanghai!
Now, FormalDress4U say, very sensibly, "Nearly 99% of our customers need some type of alterations....
.... straps may need to be adjusted, or the dress might need to be hemmed. Often with those that are "busty", there is a need to remove the cups that are already included in the gown to allow for the bust to be correct."
They then go on about "your local seamstress". Yeah, right. That would be me.
Much to my delight, they have allowed room for this. There's a seam allowance of an full inch for me to play with. The straps have two inches extra to play with (actually I've taken them off). They say it'll be easy to turn up, and if it needed it, they'd be right. The little padded cups, of course, came out as soon as I'd finished laughing.
So, I went round to the local lingere shop in Biggleswade for advice and measurements. They love the dress and the fabric, and suggest a strapless bra, and then actually sewing dress to bra to be sure they don't part company in embarrassing directions (the upper edge of each is a few mm apart). So I've spent the afternoon on and off taking the side seams apart, redoing them, and stitching top hem to bra. The result works. (It occurs to me that I now possess a bra for which I have been properly measured. I should take note of the size. 38G? OK.)
Then there was the Shoe Problem. My feet tend to swell, to put it mildly. This dress is set up on the assumption of 3-inch heels. So again, I went to a specialist shoe shop for advice. Here I was first pointed at some extremely strappy sandals with the promise that the straps were elastic, and then, when I pointed out that actually the bit round the foot wasn't, told that there was no solution, and I'd better stick to something flat rather than crippling myself. Hmm.
So, since I'd parked in the Asda carpark, off there for a few bits of shopping. I got tempted towards the clothing area by possible new Tshirts, and spotted some dressy stuff - including shoes. So I looked closer, and headed for the Shoe Area. The first ones I'd spotted didn't work, but the next.... solid square toe, little bit round the back of the heel with ankle straps, 3 inch heel. Not as substantial as courts, but more to them than sandals. And Asda prices... I put them on for gown fitting (the length is still a little long, but I now remember I need to put the hoops under it), and I've kept them on for practice. I wouldn't call them comfortable as such, anything that stays attached by squashing my toes can't be, but the nagging pain I've had in my right foot for the last few weeks just vanished.
I have a good feeling about this.
Now, FormalDress4U say, very sensibly, "Nearly 99% of our customers need some type of alterations....
.... straps may need to be adjusted, or the dress might need to be hemmed. Often with those that are "busty", there is a need to remove the cups that are already included in the gown to allow for the bust to be correct."
They then go on about "your local seamstress". Yeah, right. That would be me.
Much to my delight, they have allowed room for this. There's a seam allowance of an full inch for me to play with. The straps have two inches extra to play with (actually I've taken them off). They say it'll be easy to turn up, and if it needed it, they'd be right. The little padded cups, of course, came out as soon as I'd finished laughing.
So, I went round to the local lingere shop in Biggleswade for advice and measurements. They love the dress and the fabric, and suggest a strapless bra, and then actually sewing dress to bra to be sure they don't part company in embarrassing directions (the upper edge of each is a few mm apart). So I've spent the afternoon on and off taking the side seams apart, redoing them, and stitching top hem to bra. The result works. (It occurs to me that I now possess a bra for which I have been properly measured. I should take note of the size. 38G? OK.)
Then there was the Shoe Problem. My feet tend to swell, to put it mildly. This dress is set up on the assumption of 3-inch heels. So again, I went to a specialist shoe shop for advice. Here I was first pointed at some extremely strappy sandals with the promise that the straps were elastic, and then, when I pointed out that actually the bit round the foot wasn't, told that there was no solution, and I'd better stick to something flat rather than crippling myself. Hmm.
So, since I'd parked in the Asda carpark, off there for a few bits of shopping. I got tempted towards the clothing area by possible new Tshirts, and spotted some dressy stuff - including shoes. So I looked closer, and headed for the Shoe Area. The first ones I'd spotted didn't work, but the next.... solid square toe, little bit round the back of the heel with ankle straps, 3 inch heel. Not as substantial as courts, but more to them than sandals. And Asda prices... I put them on for gown fitting (the length is still a little long, but I now remember I need to put the hoops under it), and I've kept them on for practice. I wouldn't call them comfortable as such, anything that stays attached by squashing my toes can't be, but the nagging pain I've had in my right foot for the last few weeks just vanished.
I have a good feeling about this.
