Best of 2001: Best Place To Buy A Handmade Girl's Dress

Charles Alterations, Tailoring & Dry Cleaning
3435 Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
619-283-1574

As children's fashions look more adult, finding a special-occasion dress for your little girl is becoming more difficult. The big chains seem bent on selling the teenage-slut-in-training look to ten-year-old girls. But at Charles, you can buy a handmade dress. They sell girls' dresses from sizes 2 to 12. Soft pink, yellow, or white in a sheer fabric can be had for $20. They come in slight variations, some sleeveless, but all fit to make any girl feel like Cinderella. They also have a few in floral cotton for $10-$15. You can bring your own fabric in for them to make a dress. It's a bit more pricey -- about $30-$35 -- but still a bargain for a handmade dress.