A couple of weeks ago I picked up a dress for Miss Artistic’s forthcoming eighth grade dance.  We found a lovely black and floral sundress which looked perfectly suitable except that it needed altering.  Granted it needed a lot of altering, but I was referred to a local tailor by one of the women in the store.

The seamstress seemed to know what she was doing.  We talked about what needed to be adjusted to make the dress work … some darts to allow it to not gap and show her bra, some tweaking so that the bodice laid flat, and widening of the ribbon straps so that we would have sufficient bra-strap coverage.

The fee was reasonable, only $20, and it was promised to be ready in a week.  I picked it up today (late due to being sick last week) on our way out to run other errands in preparation for a family party tomorrow night.  We had to pick up shoes at Payless for Princess Nibbles, I needed a new top from Fashion Bug, and then we hit the Mall where we had to pick up a present for the party and I needed to purchase new bras and stockings.

We came home, fed the kids, and went into “try on” mode.  I realized that my new top wasn’t going to work but that a fall-back top I had also bought would be fine (if I switched to another pair of pants), we realized that Princess Nibbles dress (purchased at Walmart the other night) would work fine, and realized that Miss Artistic’s dress …. the dress that was to see us through her 8th grade dance, her graduation, and 2 sweet 16 parties ….  was what I can only describe as an epic fail.

It is unwearable at this moment.  There were still gaps that showed her bra.  The bodice is all bunchy.  She added a second ribbon (which she told me she was going to do even though I expressed doubt that it would work) which still shows her bra and isn’t even the right length so it slips off her shoulder.

But here’s the best part ….

She made the extra ribbon straps by cutting lengths off of the ribbon belt for the dress, which is now too short to be usable.  The dress looks just awful and my daughter, who felt lovely in it when she was standing being pinned for her altering, took one look at herself in the mirror and burts into hystertics.

Luckily we were able to pick up another outfit for tomorrow which will probably serve us well for some of the other summer festivities.  But she still needs a dress for the dance.

So tomorrow, rather than having a peaceful morning filled with sleeping late, sweet creamy coffee, and leisurly packing for a brief overnight stay for this party I am now in even less of a mood to go to than I was before Hubby and I will be going back to said cleaners to tell her in no uncertain terms to refund our money.

Then we have to hope another shop can fix it.

If not, we will have to find another dress and get it altered all by 6/5.

All of this would almost be comical except that Miss Artistic has huge self esteem issues, a difficult frame to fit (extremely buxom and not slim), and is under treatment (and has been for longer than I care to remember) for depression.

I am worried about the financial aspect of potentially having to start from scratch for a dress and the risk of not being able to find something suitable for a teen that will fit her frame in the limited time frame available to us.

I am worried about what this whole episode, on top of being bitched at just prior to our going out about homework and schoolwork issues, is going to trigger in her.

I am sad and stressed.

Can I cry now?

Mama Kelly

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