I’ve been loving the lace trend this spring and bought myself several (too many) pieces recently. Something I’ve wanted in particular was a lace dress and when this one popped up on the Forever 21 website, I jumped on it! Unfortunately when I received the dress in the mail, it was several sizes too big on me and hung like a huge sack (twitpic). Even belted (twitpic), there was still lots of extra fabric on the sides and I didn’t feel comfortable wearing it. The only saving factor was that the shoulders actually were not too far off target, which meant that the rest of the dress could possibly be altered to fit.
After a total of six (yes, 6!!) alteration attempts going back and forth with my tailor (aka mom), we were finally able to get the dress altered to a point where I felt like I could wear it (twitpic). The alterations finished just in time for me to wear it to my wedding rehearsal and you can’t even imagine the number of compliments I received on it! (And thank you, mom, for being so patient with the alterations!)
Even with all the alterations, the dress is a little too short to wear on its own to work. So on went the sleek pencil skirt. Amazing how a little pencil skirt can instantly transform an outfit into something work appropriate! Best part is, I still got to rock my favorite lacy dress. 🙂
P.S. In case you missed it:
- Color Brigade Vol 18 – Check out all the amazing looks! And enter your outfit too!
1st to comment. whooo hooo!
your pictures are getting sooooo goood as this blog progresses. really love today's outfit. i like it when u keep it simple. I think those are your best outfits.
and this dress is perfect for a bride-to-be to wear to the rehearsal dinner.
Oh how I wish I knew someone that could do alterations like that for me! That dress looks lovely on you and I really like how you paired it with the skirt for work. Genius!
Come take a look inside A Working Mom's Closet
thanks! it's a combination of me learning my camera and also getting more
familiar with photoshop in correcting pictures when they don't turn out
perfect. it's also handy that Adrian is a Photoshop expert!
and thanks for letting me know that simpler is better. i'll try to stick to
simpler outfits in the future. 🙂
Wow that dress really was huge on you! The pattern of it is truly beautiful and I'm glad you finally got it altered so that it fits correctly. The necklace really pops with it too! You are an expert at finding cute things at F21!
thanks!! i've gotten in the habit of checking out my F21 store every week.
🙂
How awesome your mom was able to tailor it for you! The dress looks fabulous as a mini and just as great with the skirt! Loves it!
cute outfit. I am your new follower. Congratulations by the way! take care.
http://www.cactusandcucumber.blogspot.com/
oh thank you so much!
Such a cute outfit. I'd never think to wear this dress as a top!
T
sassynerd.blogspot.com
Such a cute outfit, I really like the mix of nudes and the necklace is so fabulous
Miranda
http://www.indcfashion.com
very cute outfit Kileen! I also love the lace trend. I think it's so pretty and feminine. Thank you for great fashion inspirations!
I loooove this outfit it's so elegant and feminine i love it and congrats for the wedding i'm really really happy for you :)http://insidekatouscloset.blogspot.com/
lovoooooove the lace and adoring that necklace, pretty lady!!
That's so awesome that you wore the dress to your rehearsal dinner. Your mom did a really good job! I'm so tempted to buy this, but the actual dress underneath is a bit too short to my liking and I'm not lucky enough to have a tailor who can alter it like your finished product 😉
i agree. the dress is super short. i couldn't bend over and had to be
really careful even sitting down in this dress!
I'm in love with the soft colors, the lace and the grey together, and then the turquoise accessories. SO pretty, Kileen!
You're so lucky your mom alters your clothes for you. My mom and in-laws make me alter theirs for them, and I never have time. I have a pair of jeans that my father-in-law wants hemmed that have been sitting in my room for over two months now. It's just annoying because I usually do the original hem, and he freaking cut them off before he gave them to me. UGH. so annoying.
wow, kudos to you for doing your own alterations! i'm forever indebted to
my mom for her sewing skills, especially with this dress cause it had a
tricky lining too! and i actually taught my mom how to do an original hem
when fixing jeans. she always cut my jeans and i hated it, lol.
What a gorgeous top/dress – I love how you've styled it as well, so feminine and pretty!
xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.blogspot.com
Lace looks so pretty on you Kileen, and I love the jewelry you chose to pair with this. Gorgeous!
This is how I plan on wearing my dress too. Too short otherwise 🙂 I love how your sleeves turned out; great job with that!
I love the lace dress on you! I'm a big fan of the lace trend right now too, but I'm still looking for some great pieces 😀 I hate how a lot of the dresses at f21 are short to the point where they almost look obscene. The pencil skirt does a great job of making it look very work appropriate though!
Lace and silk-both immediately up the feeling of feminine. Great look!
omg, that dress is sooooooooooooooo pretty!!! i love it as a top too!! just lovely! you make me want to buy one for myself, but i have a feeling it would end up being too big on me too…and i don't have a "tailor" like you! lol.
caroline – pictures & words
Ah I'm jealous! Aubs first tweeted about this dress the day it came back into stock and I wanted to get it so badly. I saw the model was wearing sz S so I knew it would definitely need tricky alterations. Reiterating again how envious I am of your mom being a tailor. She did a great job. Echoing Aubs, I too love your outfits when you keep it simple : )
I love today's outfit…Lace really suits you..I see why you got so many compliments 🙂
Good job tailor mom! That dress is stunning and look great in it. This outfit is quite amazing as well. It's simple but very classy.
p.s. Love that bracelet.
Cheers,
Bre
http://27bre.blogspot.com/
That's such a beautiful dress!! Great idea to wear it a pencil skirt for work!
Lidi @ Eclectic Flair
I love that lace dress, it looks amazing now!
Love the lace dress as a shirt! It goes great with the pencil skirt. I'm also obsessing a bit on lace items recently.
Complex Cardigans
I love this dress! I'm going to have to check my local Forever21. I have a similar dress, but in blue, I'm gonna have to try wearing your way, with a skirt over the dress!
I'm soooooo jealous your mom is your tailor!!
-lor
Oooo oooo oooo! I love this one you- something I would totally wear! I wish the F21 dress wasn't so big and needed alterations…I would totally get it! But I guess I am happy with my AT lace dress..hehehe Love the 2nd pic- gorgeous!