This week we continue with the tail end of Prom season and a brain teaser.
This first dress came from China, no surprise, for $165, with a curly fishing line hem and gaping back neckline and drooping down from hem and very high leg slit. The fabric is see through nude knit net embellished with those cheap baubles and sequins. The back neck was altered by bringing one side over the other and using snaps to secure it. The weird curly hem was just cut off with scissors to get it to lie flat. The bodice needed SOMETHING/ANYTHING to cover and obscure the breasts beneath.
So I asked the mother to buy a nude strapless bra and I would attach it at the side seams to allow some support and modesty for the girl…what a concept. The remaining back of the bra would be cut away so it did not show as in the photo.
Upon further inspection I discovered that the under bust seam had never been sewn to the skirt and lining so it hung an inch lower from side seam to side seam inside the dress…why? Once that was sewn across the hem was straight. Would you let your daughter go out in this?
Now unto the mystery item…yes, this wandered in this week and have a look and see if you know what it is:
Is it a windsock or cushion cover? It is a knit….and it needs to have the elastic seams moved in….how about a couple others? 
Give up? Here is the pinned article with a story about going to Las Vegas for a girlie weekend and bridal shower:
This dress might just stop traffic and get a girl a few free drinks don’t you think?
Thought I would share a photo from my sewing machine…8 May and June brides waiting to be finished….so many shades of ivory lace and so many hems that have had to be cut off and re-attached higher up all by hand. At least 2 came with little jackets…really darling and so appropriate for May weather.
Next time, I would like to share a nightmare of a custom vintage dress that has been living here since January while the bride keeps adding more and more stuff to it but May 31 is the date and fingers crossed she will eventually stop this frantic behavior and realize enough is enough…well we shall see. Last week she came to get the dress and decided that everything on the top should be re-done differently and more should be added to the skirt and after she left…I wrote a note to Mr. Mole and stuck it on his office door, “I’m going out in the car to drive around and scream”.
fit for a queen 
Thats a dress even a burlesque performer might find too revealing. I’m tempted to have a child just so I can tell it they cant wear that!
Nooooo. Vile. Yellow. Shiny. Circus wear.
It does make you wonder…WHAT is everyone else wearing????
You really get the doozies! I can’t believe ANY mother anywhere would allow her daughter to wear that dress in public! The skin tight elastic dress is almost as bad, but at least if she’s going to Las Vegas one would hope she’s 21 and her mother doesn’t have to know. LOL
Enjoy your work…you have stories to dine out on forever!
The orange dress was owned by a bride I worked with last year…now she is celebrating with her friends and their weddings…oh my!
Oh Dear! These kids should be told that what works for Hollywood – probably hand made with crystal – does not translate to real life. I like the orange dress though..and it goes with her coloring.
If you have a killer body you too can wear this from Victoria’s Secret…the girl bought it for $15 and said it did not matter what I charged…
The young lady in the orange knit will definitely get a few offers, drinks and otherwise, but what the hay if she is of age. But that nude number, first, in all honesty, I think that is the ugliest excuse fro a prom dress I have ever seen, sort of combo circus clown and striptease. How, in heaven’s name, can any decent mother let her child out like that? Guess decent is the telling word here!
Once again, Mrs Mole, you have the patience of a saint. I really think you need a copy of Edvard Munche’s “The Scream” on the wall of your studio, directly facing clients as they enter.
Yes, Bunny, that Scream painting sums of many days in the sewing room…ha ha!!!! The prom dress girl is another one with a step-mom so anything goes.
I wish you could have seen my eyes pop completely out of my head when I initially scrolled through the post and saw the nude thing. I’m speechless…and eyeless 😉
At least she won’t get too hot dancing!!!!
That dress lookes like a costume from “1001 nights”
She just needs her hair done up like “I Dream of Jeannie” and she can grant wishes.
“I Dream of Jeannie” was the first thing that popped into my mind!
Looking at the old photos of Barbara Eden playing that role on TV, she is pretty well covered up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dream_of_Jeannie
I thought it was a belly dancing dress at first. WTH is the mother thinking?
She is a senior so this is her last Prom….maybe it just does not matter when you get to the end of all this?
I have done a number of nude knit prom dresses for a formal and bridal shop. Some I added beads to cover belly buttons, other I added scraps of lining for privavy panels so they could wear underwear. One I added more layers of netting to the open cleavage so things were not so “plain sight!” There girls always want the support so the breast are “perky” but the beads and lack of fabric and support make this difficult to impossible. Try to explain that to the girl. One grandmother exclaimed as she asked if her grandmother liked her dress and she says…”I think you look naked..!!!” I think that sums up this prom season! I so enjoy seeing your blog and I can so relate. It makes me laugh and release some stress. Thanks for taking the time, Colleen
Thanks for all your comments, Colleen! It is sure nice to know there are more of us out there battling the nude power-net dresses! If this girl did not have a strapless bra sewn to that dress, her boobs would have slid way below the last row of beads…HOLY MOLEY!
The slit all the way up to her va-jay-jay didn’t help either!
Missing common sense as well….
Amen, Laurie!
Ugly, cheap and very tacky. I wouldn’t let the daughter of my worst enemy out in that dress. Motherhood certainly has a different set of rules from when I was growing up…
Now some of those wedding gowns show promise. I’m looking forward to the day when every dress is not strapless…You are looking forward to the day when wedding season is over no doubt! 😉
I second that, on all points! Maybe you should have a gallery of uglies (meaning the dresses of course), Mrs. Mole.
Maybe I should have a collection somewhere but then folks would get lazy and not read the story behind the dress…ha ha
Ha ha, Theresa…wedding season ends Dec 30 and starts up again Feb 1….one month of winter is a nice break from all this white and ivory! Strapless dresses are stressful…for me and the brides…they yank all day pulling the dresses up, the bustle pulls the back of the dress down and they cannot bend over to hug someone without showing their wares….thin beaded straps are so handy or a Marilyn Monroe style halter…but very few let me add them.
Ah yes, prom…. my daughter just went this weekend. I would have made her dress, but since the her date didn’t ask until a few days before….. I couldn’t swing it. And so…. we went prom dress shopping the day of the prom. The store was swarming with girls trying on dresses. And Mrs. Mole, some of them made me blush. Really now, maybe more than an inch or two below your “privates” line would be good I think. Not necessary to show off every inch of your leg. Dresses with no back…sigh… but we finally found one that was decent. I would attach a tiny picture but I can’t seem to do so… maybe reply boxes don’t allow it?
Angela, I think you can add a link but I have never seen photos added to comments although it would be great!
That first dress looks like a costume…maybe my little mermaid, belly dancer, DWTS dancer…I wonder what the girl would’ve done if she had no money left over for alterations.
Good thing her step-mom was paying…ha ha
Has Hallowe’en come early? That is definitely a fancy dress costume not a prom dress. And the tube – easy to get on and off I suppose.
The question that goes with the orange tube dress is, “where is the rest of it?” The yellow dress makes you think this is part of the entertainment.
Oh boy. I am lost for words (and that doesn’t happen often).
Yes, Kim…your tank tops cover more that these little skimpy dresses!
So much gorgeous lace and loveliness on your corner rack! And I would never have guessed that orange fabric would be that dress! I’m not sure I can even comment on that first dress. It’s more nightmarish than what prom dreams are made of!
And yet, Poppy, you know there will be other wanna-bes who will wish that dress was their own….it boggles the mind!
The first dress makes the second look prim and proper–can’t see through the fabric, how modest! What is the first girl thinking to want to wear a burlesque costume to prom? I wonder, will she be embarrassed to look back at photos of herself in years to come.
Lordie, it is bad enough to look back 30 or 40 years to just the bad hairstyles while we were wearing pretty dresses…just imagine…down the line!!!
Just when I think it can’t get any worse!!! I saw lots of nude mesh too??? What happened to classy dresses? I am so very sad for these girls that their parents aren’t saying “NO, you are not wearing that. It looks tacky and cheap and you are in no way tacky or cheap.”
Do they want people to just gasp as they walk through the doors…well yes they will but not in a good way!
O.M.G. That’s all I’ve got.
No way would I have bought that prom dress, let alone let my daughter wear it! Even if she had a job and used her own money to pay for it, I would have boxed it up and returned it.
Oh my word! That flashy dress is too much – or is it too little?? There’s no way in hell I’d allow my daughters to even buy something like that, nevermind actually wear it! eeuugh, It gives me the creeps!
Wow. Just wow. That first dress (or lack thereof) is absolutely mind-boggling. Yikes.
Oh, my, the concept of that nude knit fabric had not entered my mind until I read this last week. I’m a high school sports and events photographer and photographed a prom on Saturday night and now see that it’s definitely a thing! And most of what was showing through needed to be covered up. I’ve been photographing proms for years and I will also say that this year the slits in the skirts were higher than ever on some of those dresses!
My cousin put herself through architecture school belly dancing in Vegas. Her outfits were more modest. Makes me glad I have a son, he’ll be wearing a tux!
What a great story! Yes, males get a free ride for weddings..a tux and a smile!
Yikes, that first “dress” is really horrific… I can’t imagine anyone (even a silly teenager) thinking that would look good on ANYBODY! LOL. Never been a fan of knit tube dresses either – Vegas girl has a nice figure but she looks like she needs a hefty fine from the fashion police; she’d get more free drinks with a classy fitted sheath dress LOL. You must really feel the need to scream sometimes – that rack of gowns is testament to your immense patience 🙂