For anyone who has been wondering about my little black dress situation, which I talked about in this post, I have an update.

My two favorite dresses from the ones Emily suggested were Shabby Apple's Rita Hayworth, and Ann Taylor's Wool Ballet Neck Dress. I thought they were both beautiful. I had reservations about spending so much for a dress that I couldn't try on beforehand, so I e-mailed both websites, asking for specifics on each dress.

My big concern was that they wouldn't be long enough -- at 5'8" I'm not extremely tall, but I do have a long torso, and I also think it's possible that I have an abnormal thigh to calf ratio, so that the distance from my shoulders to my knees is crazy long.

I asked for the length of the dress, from shoulder to hem, and how much, if any, seam allowance was at the hem. The replies were not encouraging.

The Ann Taylor dress was nowhere near long enough. The Rita Hayworth definitely sounded long enough, but they were sold out in my size. Blerg. I went back to perusing Nordstrom's Dress Shop, but nothing looked right. I felt like I was in the Berenstain Bear's Old Hat, New Hat. (Did anyone else read that book when they were a kid?) Too short, too sleeveless, too low-cut, too shiny, too old, too beaded, too silly, too fluffy.

Finally, however, I have the solution to my problem:

I looked through all the dress patterns of every major sewing pattern manufacturer, and I found the dress that I wanted. My wonderful and patient mother went with me to the fabric store to buy fabric. (My mom did this cool thing where she took a small section of silk and balled it up in her hand for a few seconds to show me how badly it wrinkles. We decided to go polyester.)

But I am not going to make this dress myself. Oh, no. No no no no no no no no no no. No. I do not have the skills. I could count on one hand the items of clothing I have made for myself and looked like a homeless person while wearing. No, I am taking my pattern and my fabric and going to a very highly recommended tailor. I have a $200 budget on this dress, after all. I am very excited. I think it's going to turn out just right. I'll keep you updated!