A Tale of a Dress.

$20 for bustles and hoop skirt.
$100 for dress.
$15 for crown.
$17 for shoes.
$30 for hair.
$20 for jewelry.
Best costume I've ever worn...you know the word.

I had to have help lacing up the back of the dress. It took my dear lady in waiting almost 10 minutes, thank goodness for her. I took up 2.5 chairs worth of space. Walking down the street required a carrier for the back. Though I began to understand how women who had to wear these dresses on a daily basis felt. You don't have much use but to be an ornament. We played charades at this party, and my Halloween object to act out was a witch hat. I was grateful for something I didn't have to move around much for. I raised my arms to mime a pointed hat, and they stopped half-way up. Thankfully someone got it anyway, with some pointing at someone else's hat. Sitting required a straight back (the dress was a corset on its own). Someone came up to me at the end of the party, and the farewell was "I hope you shrink." Entertained by my own size, people were submitted to being "skirtified" if they sat next to me. What I do want to know, is how men danced with these women with huge skirts. My partner was forced to slide his feet, and even then he caught the hem. After 4 hours my torso had submitted to the dress and I merely sat in it. Another hour it came off; my whole body bent over and could BREATHE! Undoing the hairstyle, I discovered over 40 bobby-pins (a normal hairstyle takes from 2-5), rollers to plump the hair, and two small hair pieces. Many hilarious improv photos (yet to be posted), sore body waking the next morning, and lots of conditioning hair product to remove the hair spray later, the price of wearing an awesome costume is truly - immeasurable.