Jilli sent me this link (thank you!) and all I can say it, Holy Mother of God! (You know I'm gobsmacked when I start breaking out the Irish-Catholic imprecations.) This dress is on eBay for the next four days, but there's no way I could get myself to a 25 inch waist (which is what this dress has) by then. I am seriously contemplating corsetry. (Where's my whalebone?) This dress is totally worth random fainting spells.
I know that this dress was probably originally worn with a waist cincher, which could, maybe, possibly, take, what? two-three inches off your waist? Which leaves me with mumble-mumble to go. By Saturday. (Repeat after me: I won't buy clothes that don't fit, I won't buy clothes that don't fit, I won't buy clothes that don't fit.)
But. Jeeeeee-sus. Look at this thing! Who knows, maybe it's just me and Jilli who want to look like slutbomb girl-shaped vintage upholstered sofas, but hey, if that's wrong, I don't want to be right. I want to be W25!
A Dress A Day 
I am trying to get both this and the spider dress. Yes, I will have to wear a waist cincher, but how can I resist?
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Ooooooh.Could you recover from major surgery by Saturday? Because that dress might just be worth it.Note that an appropriately period response wold be to cut out the waist up to the breasts and replace it by, say. black velvet with a point between the breasts. Sewing manuals are full of destructions for cutting up dresses and putting them back together.
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Sewing manuals are full of destructions for cutting up dresses and putting them back together.Beauty!
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Note that an appropriately period response wold be to cut out the waist up to the breasts and replace it by, say. black velvet with a point between the breastsDon’t tell me things like that. Mind you, the amount of black velvet I’d have to add to the waist (and, to be honest, the bust) makes it not worth it. I’ll just concentrate on trying to find fabric like that.
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OMG, that dress IS adorable! If only my body were shaped like that….
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Just FYI, a really good corset will take up to 10 inches off the waist for an experienced wearer (it takes practice to get that squashed!). But, the flesh has to go SOMEWHERE – so, depending on the corset style, you can either get an unexpectedly MUCH larger bust or, shall we say delicately, substantially rounded hips…
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oh, okay — I’ve just paid an obscene amount of money for an orange wool Claire McCardell, just because it was there, and it’s got a waist two inches smaller than me at my teeniest. And I am not at my teeniest at all, not by a long shot. So I’m thinkin’, seriously thinkin’, *cincher*. AKA *corset*. Why don’t I stick to Bonnie Cashin, who did nice wearable 60’s sack things? Because the McCardell had pin-tucks at the bust and hips, and, well, it was there.
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