My mom used to direct all of our church musicals when I was a kid. I was never sure if she really enjoyed it, or if it was just a chance to put my sister and sometimes myself into every lead role she could (sort of like the nice church lady version of Mama Rose in Gypsy). Unlike Gypsy Rose Lee, my burlesque career never quite took off (too short, I think), but some of those musicals have left their mark!
Guess the musical! Can you guess it? Isn’t it obvious?
When I first found this kaftan at the $1 a pound Goodwill, it was looking kind of nasty. A lady digging through the bin next to me actually sidled over and said, “Whoa! That’s gross!” It was covered in what I hoped was just rust stains, but I couldn’t put it down. Nosey lady wrinkled her nose when I tossed the kaftan in my cart. I just smirked and said nothing. I’m not sharing pics of what it looked like, as I assume you’ve seen nasty stained things before and this isn’t a laundry blog. 🙂
After a long soak in Oxyclean, much stain pre-treatment, extra washing soda, and three washes, my kaftan was clean (and ready to be donned for the “before” pic you see here.
I love the stripes, colors, front pleating, length, and neckline of this dress…but it needs help! I immediately snipped off the sleeves riiiight at the seams.
Then, I pinned those raw arm holes under.
With my newly sleeveless dress freshly pinned, I put it under the needle!
Okay…so now we’re fully sleeveless! But my dress was still a shapeless mess on me. :/ Not to worry! All it needs is a little reshapery!
I’m soooo happy I saw the potential in this once-dingy dress! 🙂
Douglas liked it, too! My facebook and twitter peeps know he’s been sick lately, but after a lot of tender care (and chicken & rice!) he’s back to his old silly self again! 🙂
Now that my pup is restored to good health, I’m getting all the last-minute details together for my big fashion show at SHE Greenville this Saturday! I hope to see you there! 🙂
Cheers!
