It's always such an honor to be asked to be a bridesmaid. I know there are lots of people who groan every time they get asked because it can turn into a bit of a circus. I'm lucky in that all of the brides I've ever stood next to have been beautiful, wonderful women who brought no bridezilla activities and not one picked out a hideous dress.
OK, some are not so cute in retrospect, but the late 80s and early to mid 90s were not exactly the height of gorgeous fashion. We did the best we could. No umbrellas, big hats or pastel rainbows ... whew.
My cousin picked a really beautiful navy blue velvet for a fall wedding. It was classy and elegant. I went for the fitting and my measurements put me between two sizes. I confidently ordered the smaller size, assuming it wouldn't be too hard to get there.
And, of course, come fitting day, it was a no go. It didn't zip. In fact, it didn't come close.
I just wanted the floor to swallow me up. How do you make a dress bigger?
There was a lot of discussion between the seamstress and the sales woman. Nope, not enough in the seam allowance to make dent. There was running back and forth to an "office" to check to see what our options were. We were out of time to order a new dress in a bigger size, but we could get extra fabric sent in time.
You guessed it. Extra fabric to make those aforementioned panels on the sides of the dress. ((Read Bridesmaid Dress No. 2 here.)
I was lucky that the dress was a very dark navy and it had some texture to it, so the panels were perhaps not as visible and obvious as they could have been. I knew they were there, however.
I knew.
I knew I was too big to fit into this dress.
I have no photos of me in that dress. To be honest, I can't remember the details of it, probably in a selective/protective memory sort of way. All I remember is that it had panels.
I do have the leftover velvet. They had to order a minimum amount ... perhaps a yard? And they didn't need the whole yard for the fixes. So they gave me the remainder. I have carried it around in my sewing box for all of these years and I'm not sure why. I feel shame and disappointment when I look at it.
But it's a part of my history, too.
Maybe someday I'll take a piece of it and make it into something sexy just to bring the story full circle.
2 comments:
I LOVE these stories. I have a story of my own called dress 1 and dress 1.5. The tale of two dresses for one wedding :( It's reassuring to know there are people that have had the same struggles and heart wrentching dissapointment.
The only thing worse than having to pay for one too expensive dress that you'll never wear again is having to pay for two. Ugh. But we learn. And we go on. And we get smarter. And tougher. And stronger because we are not alone.
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