Make any dress fit perfectly in just ten minutes!

A few years ago I made a gown for the annual Smithson Gala. It’s been hanging in my closet since then, and my lovely daughter Diana wondered if she could possibly try it on to see if it fit.

 

Of course, it was too large, but certainly alterable. And in less than ten minutes, it went from loose and drab to fitted and fabulous!

 

(She insisted on adding the apple, for a little drama!)

And no matter how little sewing ability you have, you too can make ANY garment fit perfectly, in under ten minutes. I’m going to share my secret weapon with you.

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Yep, the humble binder clip. And it’s the reason why I don’t trust most photos for judging fit, especially if it’s in catalogs or store websites.

That dress went from blah to wow, just by clipping it in a few strategic spots. I’m going to show you the side the camera DIDN’T see.

To make the front look good, the back was clipped:

And to make the back look good, the front was clipped:

And yes, the clips were moved around so I could take the pictures of the two sides.

Of course, if she actually wanted to wear the dress anywhere but in front of a camera, it would take a lot longer to actually sew the alterations.

The moral of the story is that you simply cannot judge the fit of a garment by pictures alone, unless you were there when the pictures were taken. So many times people buy clothes online or from catalogs, and discover they don’t fit the way they did in the pictures, and end up blaming themselves for either “ordering the wrong size” or “I just have a problem body.” Neither is true. It is the fault of the clothing marketer, who has a vested interest in making the clothes look as perfect as possible -- never mind if they actually DID fit the way they do.

Think I'm kidding? Here's a behind-the-scenes look from a photo shoot with Antonio Banderas (from the Poorly Dressed section of Failblog.com):