The Really Dorky Dress, But Not Any More

Here's just for you, my little chickadees! I thought about y'all when I bought this dress this weekend. Really! I bought it because I knew I could show you how easy it is to do stuff like this, filling your life with delight and your closet with cool stuff.

So I'd been eyeing this dress at Dillards. I tried it on weeks ago and realized its total dorkiness and figured that, sooner or later, it would go on clearance. Who's going to buy something that fits like this? I mean, really:

Well, except for me. Who looks good in something like this? The waist is too high, but not high enough to be flattering. It makes even me look dumpy. I think the only women who would look good in this would be very curvaceous on top with a tiny, tiny waist. Maybe no ribs.

But the skirt part! I loved it--the color (well, except for that black--what's up with that? It looks like I've been doing automotive maintenance tasks while wearing this), the fullness, the thin, breezy fabric (very cool, meaning "not sticky-sweaty hot").

I could have pondered this for days, but The EGE was ready to take photos and asked if I were going to do this or what, so I just jumped in and grabbed the scissors and Just Cut It. Yikes! My mother used to marvel that I would do this; she would think about things for days, weeks, months, then measure, mark, pin. That makes me nuts, even though I usually *do* let it sit in the back of my mind for longer than this. I can't measure. No notes. No pins! Well, not on something like this (I *am* learning the value of Using Many Pins, but that's another thang altogether from the cutting).

But it turned out fine--nothing unraveled (because, duh, it's not knit) and it fits fine.
I don't know if I'll keep the top part--the jury's still out on this:

I'm not sure how I might wear it--certainly not as a tiny little top by itself. Maybe as a vest thing, like in this photo, but somehow not so dorky-ish? I don't know.

But the skirt is as cool as I imagined it would be:

This morning I'm whipstitching, very loosely, the cut edge to the inside. I'm not going to fuss over this--it was cheap ($24, which is slightly over my limit but a fraction of the original price, which was $70), and if it does something wonky (starts to fray too much), I can work on it later. For now, I'm going to wear it. I LOVE the fullness and--best of all: GORES.

I ♥♥ Gores!

So keep this in mind the next time you find something you almost love at a price you can't resist (think thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales). If it's cheap enough and it fits, you can make it into something you love with very little fuss. And that's always a great thing--and a great feeling, knowing it's really yours~~

XO