It's that time of year, fancy dresses, big dances. No prom here, yet, thankfully. But, we do have an 8th grade social. I can still recall mine and have photos somewhere to prove what a fun time it was. Thus, when I heard the news that K would be having a dance, I was pretty excited for her.
We tried to gather a group of friends to shop, sadly they all cancelled leaving a very devastated young lady on my hands. After several hours, many tears, and consolling words she decided going with dear old mom wasn't so bad an option and off we went. It was already quite late, about 7pm, so shopping time was limited. We used every single minute of it too, trying on more than a dozen dresses and looking at many many more. In the final moments of the night...at 9pm exactly...a decision was made. We ran through the entire mall in hopes of snatching up the dress we wanted before closing. We even managed to grab some shoes along the way to match!
After all the fun of the day the dress was hung in the closet and awaited it's day to be worn. I asked numerous times what the dress code was for the dance with no real answer. Imagine my frustration when the automated school call came regarding the dance and that school dress code was to be followed. Not saying I don't respect and understand the code, but when 99% of all the formal dresses you saw and or tried on were strapless or spaghetti strap - following a "three finger" strap width rule is a little tough.
Here it is Friday, the big day and no she doesn't have straps, yet. However, we have many iterations to chose from. We snuck out to JoAnn's the other evening and they (thankfully) have a large selection of formal wear prints. We in fact purchased not one, but 4 option materials for the dance. The top two contenders were a sparkly tulle that was an exact match as well as a sheer stretchy sparkly chiffon maybe? Not sure of the fabric but it is pretty.
Fast forward...
I did manage to tack on some straps, we laced them over her clear bra straps and I used a few tacking stitches to keep them in place. We went for the most simple, basic option. Folded and seamed sparkle tulle. I didn't love it, but I wasn't wearing it - so I let K chose which option she was most comfortable with and quickly added them. (They had about 40 minutes between arriving home from school and time to leave for the dance.)
Not long after arriving at the dance, Katherine realized a large number of girls were also wearing strapless dresses, without straps. It was no surprise at pick up that her straps were tucked down tight into her dress - and to be honest, I was completely fine with it! While her dress was strapless it was a high cut and stayed up on it's own with no issue.
Not too bad! I think if you didn't know the straps were an after addition, it would be pretty believable. At the end of it all - if you have a strapless dress that you want to add to - take the time to find a color that complements (or matches )the fabric your dress is made of, have a little faith and do it!
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