Friday, June 27, 2008

A Lilly Makeover.

As promised, I've got before and after photos of my old Lilly dress makeover. I picked them up Wednesday (it's two of the same dress in different patterns) and am SO happy with the results! I mentioned taking these to my alteration lady last week. I *think* this style is called Sabrina (from several years ago), but don't hold me to that - I could totally be making that name up. It's strapless with a tie in the back (though please ignore how I have it tied in these pics because I was just throwing the dress on really quickly for a photo opp.) and it hits a little below the knee. I've actually never been super crazy about the length on it, but never did anything about it. And the hip region on the dress seemed to run a bit large, but it looked fine - until I lost some weight over the last year. So now the dress just looked ridiculous on me. So instead of letting the two like dresses hang there and collect dust, I finally decided to make them over (er... tell the alteration lady how to make them over).

So here are the BEFORE shots, both front and back. The camera angle here is bad and I'm not sure you can appreciate how truly *frumpy* it looked. But overall it just felt very frumpy on me. And Lilly should never feel frumpy!



And then a week and $74 later (for both dresses)... the AFTER! You can tell I feel much cuter by my fabulous posing here...



I totally feel like I scored two brand new dresses since these are totally wearable again. Here's the other pattern I have (you know what - I don't think I've ever worn this one actually!)...


We've got an engagement party to attend Sunday afternoon and I think I will wear the orange one. It's a backyard BBQ - so this should be perfect. Although that tan-line from my scorchfest in Charleston looks awful in these pics... hmmm... Oh well. So is $74 total reasonable? I rarely have things altered. I'm short, but I wear heels with my slacks at work, so I don't usually have to get things hemmed... but I always go to the same lady near my parents' house everytime I need to go. I mean she basically reconstructed the entire bottom half of the dress, so it seems fairly reasonable to me. What do y'all think? Either way, I'm totally happy with the results and can't wait to sport my *new* Lilly this weekend!

12 comments:

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

Considering she had to do so much more than just take up a hem line, I think that price for two dresses is very reasonable. And considering you would never wear them if you didn't spend that much, it's essentially two dresses for $75, which is a deal any which way you spin it!! I love them both- so super cute!

Lauren @ Adventures of a Southern Newlywed said...

Your dresses look great! I love the new look of both of them. I am going to check my closet for some things to have altered ...

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs.Preppy said...

The after shots are great! I love what a good alterations person can do. I have an entire load of stuff currently at mine.

SCM said...

You look so cute! I have that exact dress... the print is called San Diego and it's one of my favorites!

SLS said...

Love them! And I think $74 is very reasonable! What a great idea! They turned out so cute!

Jill said...

What a great idea. The $74 sounds reasonable to me.

Mama's the Boss said...

Lily would be proud of the re-do. I think $74 is very reasonable--just think of how many times you will wear them now.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a difference that makes! The change is much more youthful. Love it!

Kate said...

Wow such an improvement! I especially love the first pattern

Muffy said...

FABULOUS! It looks a lot better now! BRAVO!!!

Michelle said...

MUCH more cute in the after! I love the shorter length.

Lori said...

Oh they look GREAT!! The shorter length is much more flattering and now you're excited about wearing them! You look cute!