Big Prom Project

I always get in way over my head.  Way over my head.  This year my oldest is graduating and this very evening off at her prom.  Now she has a unique style and this should come as no surprise, as she is off to art school next year.  Prom dress shopping was filled with disbelieving laughter as she could not imagine herself in a particular dress or in one instance pulling at both the top and bottom of a another dress trying to get more coverage.  A lot of dresses didn't even make it off the hanger as they were declared to be gross.  She did find a dress online she liked, but it was from the States and our experiences with cross border mail order shopping are such that I knew it was a proposition fraught with problems.  The one thing I did get from the online dress was a silhouette that she would be happy with.  40's vintage.  OK.

Once she conceded to have me sew a dress, we had to find fabric, trims, jewelry and shoes.  We picked a Belville Sassoon pattern from Vogue.  The first thing she wanted changed was the flowers on the sleeve.  I argued that the sleeves needed something for a little wow. She picked a Chinese black silk with pink dragons.

The next challenge: Shoes.  We went to Fluevog and she found a great pair that fit the bill, though hers are black on black with a little gray trim.  I then made her a pair of laces to match her dress.

Next she needed jewelry.  A trip to the bead store and stringing the bracelet 3 times to get the right amount of slack resulted in this.

I use Chinese crystal and IRL they are way blingy.

Last step: Hair.  Love the internet for this sort of thing.  I found this photo, among others, and she heartily approved.

So that's my list of ingredients and here's the finished prom girl. The purse is vintage 50's.

And to set the Photoshop time machine in motion.........