Bridesmaids dresses. Does anyone like those things? They even made a movie about how awful they can be. We’ve been trying to find something somewhat flattering and still avoid paying $100 to $200 per dress for something most people wear once. Impossible!
Plan A. Over the past six months, we’ve hunted all the usual and unheard-of places, both online and traditional brick and mortar stores, trying to find a usable bargain. No burgundy — not in Spring or Summer. Imagine that.
Plan B. Next we thought eBay. We’ve had great success in the past. Not this time. The “burgundy” dresses arrived in two different shades of flaming red, and one arrived damaged besides. Arg!
Plan C. Since the holidays are just around the corner, we tried the online and in-person search again. No good burgundy dresses, but we did find a few vintage-looking, lacy things we might be willing to settle for. Let me just say one word: skimpy. And, not flattering at all. Even on the size 4 in the bunch.
Plan D. Yesterday was four weeks to the wedding, and I have a week-long commitment one of those weeks. On the way home from the latest failure to find bridesmaids dresses, exasperated DD#2 exclaimed, “Why don’t we just wrap the lace tablecloths around us? There would be more fabric than the ones we tried on!” Hmmm…I did have some extra lace tablecloths that I got at the thrift store.
Once we got home, DD#1 walked in while we were wrapping ourselves in lace. We laughed as we shared the idea. Immediately she said, “Don’t we have a burgundy curtain that we can put under the lace?” Yep, I had some of those from the same thrift store, too.
So, here it is, hastily pinned to my design wall. I’ve just got the darts and the waistline seam in right now, but we finally have a glimmer of hope. And the girls are excited. I paid 69 cents a pound for this fabric. Based on its weight, this dress will end up costing 42 cents plus the price of a zipper and a few hours time! And it won’t even hurt my feelings if they only wear it once.
Comments
7 responses to “Bridesmaids dresses: Plan D”
How clever and creative…tne dress looks great and the uniqueness might make them even more re-useable…
I can’t wait to see them in person. You are so creative.
Creative credit goes to DD#2! I was rather doubtful until we started playing with the fabric.
LOVE it! Thrifty and cute. I love the way you are creating dresses, etc. for the wedding. It will be every bit as lovely as those who spent way way way too much, and there won’t be lingering debt over your heads afterwards. The focus is where it should be — the uniting of two hearts before God and not the cost of outdoing the next person with the “have to’s” that society pushes on us.
That is AWESOME! Way to go girl!
It looks nice.
That is so so clever. Well done