I pulled this peachy little dress from the Goodwill Clearance bins yesterday.  Even though I've yet to find my couture Dior dress, I do find loads of fantastic vintage linens and fabrics, and occasionally, a pretty frock or two.

I was in mid swoon when I turned the dress around to look at the back.  I was totally unprepared for the back view:

For once, I was speechless, and you can ask my brothers and sister how rarely THAT happens.

Now I can admire anyone's willingness to tackle a new and daunting task, but sometimes it's just easier to hire a professional, or at least a friend or grandmother who knows his or her way around a sewing machine.  I will say that this DIYer was very good at the machine's back-stitch function!

Usually I would not touch a dress like this, as I've had my fill of wounded baby bird garments that need a little TLC to make them wearable.  These birds tend to multiply and the repair pile will soon run you out of your house.  But this one was just too special, and this was, after all, the clearance bin, and I knew that if I did not take it, this dress would most certainly end up at a raggers, or even worse, the landfill.

So now it, with its screwy zipper, is mine for the restoring.  Let's just hope that no other of these birds get their claws in me!

Caution, the following photos are not for the faint of heart:

that is sheer insanity.. dear heavens!:-(:(

Ohhhh my goodness, that makes me cringe. At least it has been rescued and is in good hands now, poor daring.

That is so sad that it is hilarious! The zipper I mean -
the dress rocks!

This dress is gorgeous, Lizzie! I fixed a zipper once, and if I did it~~anyone can! I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat~~make sure to show us what the finished, proper zipper looks like!

It is a wonderful little dress. I,m almost finished with the restoration. I've inserted a zipper, a vintage metal one that I had in my stash. The dress was quite dirty, so I removed the velveteen band. I'm now reattaching it, and the dress looks like new! Photos will be added this week.