It started about a month ago now. From the local thrift store a lilac pair of size 18, elastic waist pants came home with Xernay.  The cost? Under $2.  The vision?  Dresscue these pants and create Xernay’s prom dress. Luckily, since Juniors wear short dresses to the Senior prom, I felt we had enough “fabric” to pull this off.

The fabric is a permanent crinkle. in a lightweight polyester fabric of some sort.  The inspiration for the Dresscue came from Elie Saab’s lavender couture dress that Mila Kunis wore to the 2011 Oscars.

Click for a slightly larger view

Of course, given the origins of these pants, the inset lace wasn’t possible.  So, I navigated towards the drape, fabric, lace and some rhinestone trim.  To get the shape, I cut off the pants just below the pockets and ripped the sides to create the arms and shoulders.

This is the front starting to take shape

Then, I worked the back of the dress

It worked best to remove fabric as we went along the process of many try-on’s, pinnings and bastings.  I made a couple of trips to several stores to find the chiffon and trims.

Stay tuned for the big reveal….tomorrow.