Dresses

From the office shirt dress to the floor-length gown:

length and occasion sort dresses more than price does. Day dresses, from the shirt dress to the knit midi, are the ones worn to work. Cocktail dresses stop at the knee or mid-calf and cover most weddings and work dinners, while a gala gown reaches the floor, often with a corset bodice, a slit or beading. Quinceañera gowns are a type of their own: a ball skirt over layers of tulle, held out by a crinoline and usually in the colour chosen for the party. Bridal gowns sit apart under wedding dresses, and one of the long or midi skirts with a good top can reach the same look for less.

A gown for the graduation dinner:

final-year students close the school year with a formal dinner, and that is when long gowns are wanted most. Cut decides how forgiving a dress is. An A-line skims the hips and copes with a size either way; a mermaid or sheath has to match your measurements closely. US prom labels such as Sherri Hill and Jovani run on their own size scale, so go by that brand’s bust, waist and hip chart rather than the number on the tag. A laced corset back gives a little room, a zip back none. Choose the heel before the hem, because a floor-length gown is hemmed for one height, then match the shoes and the earrings from jewelry.

Quinceañera gowns, bought or rented:

a made-to-measure quinceañera gown from a Guatemalan atelier runs to about Q6,500 to Q7,000, while renting one goes from around Q2,000 for an imported design to about Q4,000 for an atelier piece. Renting is the yardstick a used gown gets measured against. A family that needs it for one night will compare it with hiring the same style, so the asking price has to sit clearly under the rental, and lower again if the gown was already taken up for another girl’s height and needs a seamstress to refit it.

What the inside of a used gown gives away:

turn it inside out before anything else. In a corset bodice, press along each seam for boning that has bent or worked through its casing. Look at how much fabric is left in the side seams, because that allowance is all the room there is to let a dress out. The back of a long hem shows fraying and dirt from the dance floor. Beads and sequins should be stitched, not glued; glued stones leave a smear of adhesive where one has dropped off. On a quinceañera gown, go over the tulle layers for snags and ask whether the crinoline comes with it, since the skirt hangs flat without one. A Sherri Hill or Jovani at a fraction of its price is almost always a copy, and copies tend to be listed with the brand’s own catalogue photos, so ask for a picture of the dress itself on a hanger.

Passing on a gown after the party:

give the brand, the size on the label, and the bust, waist and shoulder-to-hem length measured on the dress, plus the heel height it was hemmed for. Photograph it front and back, on a hanger and worn, with close-ups of the label, the beading and any mark. Say how many times it was worn, what was altered and whether it has been dry-cleaned. A graduation gown moves best listed in the weeks before the dinners rather than after them. With a quinceañera gown, mention whether the bolero, crinoline or tiara go with it, and warn the buyer driving in from Chiquimula or Retalhuleu that the skirt and its hoop will fill the back seat of a car.