Prom Dress Alterations
Get It Right The First Time!

These tips I'm about to share with you will help you to get your prom dress fitting you perfectly. And when you follow these prom dress alteration instructions you won't have any problems or disappointments.

But first a few clues when you purchase your prom dress in the beginning....

* remember when purchasing your prom dress online, to make sure measure yourself accurately and use the store's measuring chart.

* it's better to measure yourself too big than too small - it's easy to do the right prom dress alterations and take a garment in but a bit difficult to add fabric on! AND besides whether you have to take it in 1" or 5", the price is the same!

* whatever you do, don't order your designer prom dress in a size that you THINK you might be on Prom Night and hope to diet into it! (It very rarely works) And besides there might not be enough fabric in the seams to let it out anywhere - much easier to do your prom dress alterations and take a garment in.

* Most dresses are made for those of us under 5'9". If you are taller than this and are hoping to have a full length prom dress for Prom Night, a special order from Sydney's Closet would have to be the easiest way to do it.

Sydney's Closet has a huge range of plus size prom dresses both for the tall girl and the curvy girl which you must see. Sydney's Closet will do the trick.

A plus size prom dress is not just for a person with above average weight, it is also for a person with above average height! So check them out.

If you can't find anything there you can still do a couple of things with a 5'9" designer prom dress....

* High/Low hemlines are definitely in for 2005. So take up the hem at the front and use the extra fabric to make a false hem at the back.

* Wear flat shoes. Most of the models you see are between 5'8" and 5'10" AND they are all wearing high heels. So maybe you could get away with wearing flats.

* Order a shawl in a complementary fabric and add it to the bottom of the gown and add some of the same fabric somewhere to the top as well so that it doesn't look added on.

* Loralie.com is one of my favorite prom dress sites. – They stock extra fabric they can sell you, the same as the gown. And because they manufacture their own gowns they should be able to make a gown a bit longer for you anyway.

If your fabulous prom dress has a small train, have your mom sew a hook and eye to the back of your prom dress so that your train can be brought up to the length of your gown when you are dancing (a lot less likely to trip over it!! - which is definitely not a good thing to do)

* When having a professional seamstress do your prom dress alterations it would be wise to get a bid from her first. That way there will be no surprises when you come to pick up your prom dress.

Prom Dress Alteration Price Guide:

Hemline alterations : Anywhere from $10 - $15

Trains being brought up or down : Around $5

Taking in your plus size prom dress : $10 - $20

Letting out your designer prom dress (if possible) : $25

Adding extra length to bargain prom dresses : $20

Sometimes seamstresses add everything together and charge from there. Prices will vary from town to town and seamstress to seamstress, so do a bit of research through the yellow pages beforehand.

From Prom Dress Alterations you can go back to our Big and Beautiful Teen page