(Post moved from fashion dummy, written in july 2007. I wanted to keep it as a record on here)

Yesterday, was my dreaded school prom. I’ve never wanted to go to it, but I bought a ticket anyway. I’d always said “I’m going to make my dress”. Why? Because I’m a cheapskate and I didn’t want to spend £70+ on a dress.Unfortunately, rather than being sensible, I didn’t decide to definitely go until the day before the prom and of course, that meant I had no dress. So what did I do? Instead of going to a shop and buying one (thereby alleviating stress), I asked my dad to help me make one (admittedly, my father didn’t want to spend £70+ on one, so making was the cheaper option).

So here we go - How to make a prom dress in 5 hours:

Step 1 - Get some inspiration (in my case, I googled various terms and came across this Givenchy dress (pictured above left). I think the site was selling really old dresses - classic haute couture & even pieces from the Victorian era - which was truly wonderful despite the fact that I would never be able to afford anything) and create a design (mine wasn’t that much different because I had less than a day to make it).
Step 2 - Gather materials (I’d already purchased fabric & thread, so this job was done)
Step 3 - Grab a father who has pretty amazing dressmaking skills (especially considering he’s not trained in pattern-making, dressmaking or sewing) and make your dress.

And the result:

All for just under £10 (£6 for 3 metres of fabric, about £1.50 for thread and then add in electricity used for the sewing machine). Okay, so it’s obviously not as good as the designer one (that will have taken several millions of hours, not 5) and not quite the same as my original design, but on the whole not bad eh?

Of course, I don’t recommend cutting it so short time-wise if you are planning to make a dress. Simply because the fit may not be brilliant, you don’t get a chance to finish off seams etc properly and mistakes cannot be made. But there we go - I have now proven that it is possible to make a dress for prom; in 5 hours; on the same day as it is to be worn.