I already reviewed her second prom dress, but this was the first one she purchased for the prom she attended during her Junior year of high school.
Here she is in her lovely dress:
The was the first prom dress I altered several years ago, and I can't
remember if I had to alter the straps, however, the dress needed hemming
and a bustle. It also had another issue that needs to be discussed in a
bit. The dress hem had two layers: the lining and the dress fabric which is typical. Lucky for me, both were free hanging meaning they were not attached with the exception of a couple of swing tacks that could be easily clipped to separate the two. Her heels were about 3" high, and she opted for a floor-skimming hem length for the dress. The lining, however, was hemmed a good 4" higher than the dress hem. Rather than have two hems that could get caught in a heel, the only concern was the dress itself.
This shouldn't be done for every dress particularly if the dress fabric is somewhat sheer and delicate. That's when I would hem the lining just a smidge shorter (1/4-1/2") than the dress. Sheer fabric needs the protection of the lining. The dress fabric for Karly's dress was a medium-weight knit fabric which wouldn't be excessively damaged by a heel. So, to recap the hemline length, the dress hem skimmed the floor, the lining was hemmed 4" shorter than the dress.
Once the dress was hemmed, we could tackle the bustle. We experimented with a few options, and she chose this lovely bustle style which added further emphasis to the beautiful beaded, crystal design right above her bum. The photos don't do the bustle style justice. The fabric had beautiful drape and fell in soft folds which produced a very elegant look. She received several compliments on her bustle, and this was the dress that inspired Kristin to ask me to bustle her dress.
There is one issue I'd like to discuss regarding this dress bustle. The bustle design we used produced side seams that swing to the back. On a perfectly fitted dress, side seams should hang straight. Is anyone going to notice and tell her, "Gee Karly. Your side seams are swinging backward."? NO! Not unless they're an Alterations Specialist or a home sewer that knows a thing or two about the fundamentals of fit ;) . Is it going to matter? Let's see. Does the side seam issue affect walking? No. Does it affect the overall design and silhouette of the dress? No. Is it noticeable? No. Now that we both know this is happening, does she care? No. Now I'm going to ask you readers--did you notice the side seam issue right away, or did you pick up on it after I mentioned it? 'Nuf said.
The bustle alteration verdict: the side seam swinging backward did not matter to the wearer and did not affect the overall fit, silhouette, and movement in the dress. Therefore, it was a non-issue.
There is yet another issue with this dress, and I'm not sure if anyone picked up on it right away. The bust cups do not match the shape of her breasts. She decided to tape everything in place with body tape, but in retrospect I should have padded the cups to angle the girls inward to fill out dress or take in a seam for a closer fit. This was the first dress I altered and at the time, and when we discussed taping to fit it should have been as a test during a fitting. It wasn't, and looking at these pics post prom, I see the cups would have benefited from additional padding. It was further confirmed when she told me the tape became itchy while she was at the prom so she was ripped it off and discarded the tape in the trash. This was a learning moment for me. If it doesn't look right during a fitting, address it during the fitting and do the alteration. Don't assume tape will produce the right look on prom day. Leave nothing to chance.
Overall, the dress looked lovely, and Karly looked beautiful the day of the prom.
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