Prom 2013

Amid the chaos this year we had the opportunity to go to an event with friends this weekend.  One of the local radio stations holds an adult prom every year.  

I didn't go to prom in highschool, and I didn't go to any formal dances in college. In fact, the only fancy events I ever go to are weddings. And while that's fun, I guess I always wished I had that experience, the prom experience.

So I pulled out all of my old bridesmaid dresses but nothing really seemed like the right feel for this time.  Then I pulled out this dress that I had started making in college.  I say 'started making' but I've probably worn it 4 or 5 times to weddings or other events, often with a shirt or shrug over the top.

It never really fit well because I really didn't know what I was doing.  And apparently by the end I had added this ribbon tie and it was the only thing holding the dress up.

yeah, that's not pretty.

Here you can see how I chose to line the dress. It is the skirt off of my high school graduation dress.  I actually like the concept I had come up with. It kept me from having to line the bodice of the dress and used a skirt I wouldn't otherwise use. but the hems on both the dress and the skirt/ lining were horrible and I had just hand-tacked them together. 

I have distinct memories of catching the heels of various shoes in this piss-poor hem.

'hem'

really, me-from-the-past?! ew. must fix.

So I took it all apart and restitched the whole thing.

unpicked and restitched the waistband

serged and properly pressed seams

I took in the darts that were already there and added a couple more as well as some pleats to the bustline. The neckline was faced with some purple ribbon left over from the wedding and I added an invisible zipper on the side.  

I wanted to add a little more interest to the top so I added some black gause for a wide-belted empire waist look.  I also used some leftover lace from a wrap I made for a friend's wedding several years ago to add some straps/ sleeves. These I stitched on by hand.

 

Stressed out as I've been, my first instinct when we were asked to go was to say no; with all of my angst of crowds and people it seemed a nutty idea. But my wonderful husband convinced me otherwise. So I told him that if we went he had to get me a corsage. Unfortunately the little girl at the store who took his order wrote down the wrong date, so we had to improvise at the last minute.

  
I think they turned out pretty nice!

Here we are ready to go out and have a good time

omg I'm actually wearing makeup! lol

We had a nice little dinner out beforehand (not something we do very often) and then headed downtown with our friends for the big event. Though my friend and I were wearing dresses we had made ourselves, many women were clearly wearing bridesmaid dresses from weddings they had been in.  It's nice that there's somewhere once a year to get to wear that sort of thing again!  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I really enjoyed the people-watching and checking out everyone's dresses.

Hope you're having a great spring!