Help me to tart up an old dress for a posh do!

clarkey1000

Hi,
I have been informed by my DH that we may be attending a posh function in 10 days (won't get confirmation until Wed ish!).

Usually this wouldn't cause too much stress as I have a couple of dresses in the wardrobe, however as I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and have a large protruding bump things are a bit tricky! :eek:

I have found a dress I like on the internet however it will cost me £70 to hire and so I'm wondering if I can do a bit of DIY on a very old plain black dress I have that is sufficiently stretchy for me to wear but is not currently suitable for the function.

The dress I want to hire is this
and photos of the dress i currently own are here
front
back
side

My design / creativity skills are minimal so any suggestions are welcome - I think my dress is a bit too clingy and slightly unflattering at the moment so I thought maybe I could try and get hold of some lacey material and put an outer layer over the dress (similar I spose to the dress for hire) although this is probably more difficult to do than I imagine.

I have a sewing machine & a dressmakers dummy and can do a fair bit with my moderate sewing skills (I also have a friend with vastly superior sewing skills who I might be able to rope in to assist!)

I don't mind spending a bit of money - just not too much!

Any help / suggestions really really appreciated!!

Thank you
Jo

beverleyhills

I cannot get the link for the hire dress to work.
Don't hide the bump. Can help the conversation if someone asks you when your baby is due,etc
I would stick with the simple black dress and concentrate on your top half.
Can you wear your hair up? If yes, have an extra special hair do, prehaps with flowers intertwined.
Get a friend to do an extra special makeup for you.
Beg, borrow or s some steal some dramatic bling to go around your neck.
Beg,borrow or steal a contrasting pashmino to wear over your shoulders, so you can casually drape it over the bump.

clarkey1000

Does this link work?

Maternity Dress

I'm definitely not trying to hide the bump - that's half my problem, I don't like floaty things that hang off it and there aren't many maternity dresses out there that aren't a bit floaty!!
Cheers for the tips though, I'm definitely going for the pashmina option (have to have my shoulders covered anyway).
I also have some red shoes so thought I might accessorise in red if I'm feeling daring enough

beverleyhills

Still can't get the link to work.
Be daring, hold your head up high, look people in the eye (or slightly above if you feel intimidated) and smile.
Enjoy.

kazwookie

I saw someone at a party, in a similar type black dress and she had a wide bright red ribbon around her just below her bust and above her 'bump' as she looked stunning.

She matched it with red shoes, and a red flower thingy in her hair.

The lady said she didn't have much money to spend on a new dress, so just worn her black one, and bought ribbon, and the flower thingy for about £5 off the local market.

The red shoes she already had.

Go out and have a wonderful evening.

clarkey1000

Love the idea of the ribbon - thanks for that.

one more try with the picture - it's on the homepage of www.doesmytumlookbiginthis.com after all that though I'm steering away from it now - I just don't feel I can justify £70 to hire a dress for one night - would have been nice though!

I've found out today we're definitely going to the function so I'm going for a wonder round the shops with a friend tomorrow afternoon to see what other options are available - she's the dressmaking friend too so I'm taking my own dress to see if she has any advice!

I'll let you know how I get on!

HelzBelz

How about tarting it up with a bright wrap/shawl and matching shoes something like a deep red or gold.

clarkey1000

I found a dress!

I went over to TK Maxx yesterday and managed to pick up a suitable dress for £40 which I'm much happier with than my original dress and as long as it doesn't stretch beyond recognition when I wear it then I should be able to wear it again!
I'll try and put some pics up later but basically it's black and long and has one strap with diamante on the strap.
I'm now off to work where I'm going to see f anyone has any suitable jewellery I can borrow! (I'm going to accessorise in sparkly silver!)

Cheers for all the help & advice.

Jo