How a Backwards Dress Made the Cut
Credits: Image - Anonymous, Styling - Sarah G. Schmidt, Location - The Inn on Officers Gardens, Calgary, AB
Calgary is a casual city in a lot of aspects. Come to think of it, basically all aspects. I am struggling to find an example of something that is buttoned up or formal. I dare you to bring up a not casual example. If you can think one up I’ll buy you a distanced take-out coffee.
I can count the amount of formal dress code events I’ve been to in my life on one hand. It’s two. I’ve been to two events where the dress code asked for formal attire. The first was a fundraiser gala – how fancy sounding – and the second was a wedding. While there were some schmucks wearing jeans at the fundraising gala – probably the rich dudes – there was no denim on the horizon for the wedding.
In short, this was an occasion where dresses need to be long and suits must have ties. The only formal dress I had in my closet was the one I wore to the aforementioned gala. It’s gorgeous, long, beaded, second hand. Divine. The only hitch was it was crème. Not an ideal colour for a guest of a Canadian wedding.
I had to find something else. As there have been few occasions to really go-for-it formal clothing wise these past couple years, so I decided to treat myself to a new dress. And then I wore it to the wedding right from the packing and everyone lived happily ever after, right?
Wrong.
Well not about the happily ever after; the couple seem quite happy. But buying and wearing a dress straight-off-the-rack ready-to-wear was not my reality. That’s quite laughable to me actually. I alter a tonne of my clothes. Suits, blazers, most dress pants, and even basic jeans. I bought this dress knowing that I was going to alter the shit out of it and wear it backwards.
While I know that not everyone grew up with a seamstress for a mother and has focused their career on wardrobe, I have. Similar to how construction minded people can enter a space and have a good idea of what walls are load-bearing or not, I can look at a garment and evaluate its ability to alter. For example, a shoulder is very intensive to alter while a hem is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Taking a look at what is possible opens up possibilities, reports Style Captain Obvious.
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share the process of how I took the dress from purchase to wedding guest ready because I must say, the finished product was pretty spectacular.
Buy two, keep one…
First, I bought not one, but two of the same dress in different sizes. Once they both arrived, I called my go-to tailor Connie to set up an appointment.
With both dresses in hand, I went over to Connie’s and told her what I wanted to do. Next, I tried on both dresses and showed her the fit on me of each. From that we discussed what the garment could actually do – and maybe more important – what it could not. Please know that in general, it is way easier to remove fabric than it is to add it out of thin air. That is often why I try on and even buy two sizes to ensure the fit of any such garment is the best for me. After some discussion, our rough plan was to flip the dress around, create a boat neckline, gash a deep open v in the back, take the existing a-line skirt and change it to a pencil, and then after all that was working well, figure out where a slit should go so I could walk in the darn thing. Oh, I returned the unused second dress. No sense hoarding it away if someone else can give it a go.
Cut it out…
The next fitting was a check-in on the dress shape. Connie had cut into it and re-pinned a couple areas but no new stitches had been made just yet. She needed to be sure that before she sewed it up, that it was fitting correctly. She said she would tinker and toil until she was happy. A snip here and some pins there and we made our way along.
When close isn’t close enough…
The second last fitting was to make sure that after she had cut excess and sewed things back up, it was all draping correctly. The dress should fit like a glove and she was determined to make it just so. Once I shimmed that dress on, she decided to adjust the neck and the waist a tiny bit more. And this is that part of the phase where I get her to sew in my boobs. While I am curvy, fully buxom below, my chest is less than overflowing. No problem, just sew in loose bra cup shapers at my natural bust and I am golden. (I have been doing this to my form fitting, no bra underneath dresses and tops since I was a teenager.)
Triple check…
The final fitting was to be sure the final adjustments worked on the body and that my bust cups were in the right place. Once that was all verified – Connie nailed it – I took the dress home. A quick steam and the garnet beauty was ready for her big day.
My favourite part of getting dressed is not when the dress is on. It’s not when it zips all the way up. Nope, my favourite part is when I have that all complete and I step into my shoes. That’s the best part as it’s the final flourish. Not to mention my tush looks great when supported by my Manolo heels. I was ready to celebrate my loved ones in my fancy dress.
Is it worth the extra steps to have a totally bespoke dress to most people? Unfortunately, no. For one, it’s a privilege to have and spend resources to languish in beautiful things. It’s rare and I know it. But I hope for everyone, some time in their life that they can see and feel the difference of wearing a stiff garment that fits within one centimetre of their body. Even if it takes wearing something backwards and cutting it all up.
