URNotAlone

That Fabulous Gown

April 1st, 2007 8:36 pm MST

People ask me about the “pink gown” that I am wearing in some of my profile pictures, so I thought that I would mention a bit about it - especially since there is a story that goes along with it.

The gown itself is actually a custom-made corset with a matching ballroom skirt (made with 8 yards of material!!), shawl, choker and wristlets. Although some of the pictures make it look pink, the gown is actually a deep magenta. It seems that in bright sunlight, the magenta really shines and in dimmer light, especially during a beautiful red dusk, the gown looks pink. Having the colors seem to change is really quite neat.

The back story of the gown starts a bit over two years ago when I had just been diagnosed with a potentially fatal medical condition. The statistics gave me an 80% of surviving. Intellectually, I can appreciate that those are pretty good odds. Emotionally, I kept focusing on that 20%. Also, I had about a 50% chance of some serious complication. Needless to say, I was kind of stressed out. At first, I was feeling find but soon started getting a whole host of problems like going blind in one eye, experiencing chronic fatigue, and developing stomach problems. I was starting to get really depressed. The whole experience really made me appreciate my mortality.

Maybe I was being selfish, or maybe I was feeling sorry for myself, but I wanted to do something nice for myself. I wanted to treat myself to something special. A couple of months later, I was attending the “First Event” conference that was being held by The Tiffany Club of New England. In year’s past, I had always admired the wonderful corsetry work done by Ann Grogan’s group Romantasy. Ann was presenting at the conference again that year, so I decided to treat myself to a custom-made corset.

Actually, it was much more than just a “treat” for me since I really didn’t care how much I had to spend. I hardly glanced at any of the prices, focusing only on what I liked and what was possible. Ann was wonderful to work with and really made the experience even more special for me. She and I looked over her many albums showing pictures of her past works and we discussed what could be done and how. I tried on numerous corsets that she had available with her so that we could see how things looked on me and how I looked in the various corsets. She offered so many wonderful suggestions. Well, as you might guess, one thing led to another and the corset turned into an entire ensemble!

Ann carefully took what seemed to be a zillion measurements, after which came the hard part – waiting for a delivery in the mail. I patiently waited those next weeks… Eventually, I got something in my hot little hands but it wasn’t my corset. What I did get was a mockup of the corset made of muslin – a kind of closely-woven white cloth that is similar to cotton. By giving me this muslin corset first, I was able to tell just how well the final product would fit and provide any additional instructions on how to better improve the fit. Not being a professional seamstress myself, I was delighted to find that the muslin corset came with detail instructions on how to check the fit and provide the proper feedback. I actually used a black felt-tipped marker to draw on the corset and used pins to tuck it in here and there. Then I sent the marked up corset back so that the real one could be constructed. I went back to waiting patiently. As I was waiting, I received some rather good news. I discovered that the initial medical diagnosis was incorrect. It wasn’t that the doctors did anything wrong, it just took a while to figure things out. Of course, I was quite relieved. Things started looking up. I started shedding much of the weight that I gained and the vision in my eye was slowly starting to return. Even though I was going to be alright, I couldn’t see cancelling the corset ensemble.

Soon enough, the gown was delivered. I was ecstatic. It fit like a glove – better than a glove. Most “off the rack” corsets, which are made for the typically shaped body of a GG, don’t fit the typical male body well and frequently are not the most comfortable to wear. Since this corset was made for me specifically, it hugged me perfectly. I can wear it all day and still feel quite comfortable. It looks wonderful and most importantly, I feel wonderful wearing it.

This gown hold special meaning for me. When I first ordered it, I was afraid, depressed, and worried. By the time it arrived, I was renewed, hopeful, and optimistic. Now, every time I see or think of this outfit, I am reminded that, no matter how bad your situation, things are not always as gloomy as they may seem!