Ah, well - it's only ridiculous because you can make it yourself - possibly even out of the stash you have at home. If the shop is selling them for $160-$200, let's work out where the $$ are going... Usual markup for retail is 2.5 times, so the store bought it from the knitter for around $64-$80. Artists' rule of thumb is to mark up materials by 3, so materials could have cost around $21-27. If the ribbon was actual silk, and the beads swarovski, then that could be about right. Depends on whether they got wholesale or not. Or used Michael's coupons or whatever. Plus you'd want to count something for shopping time. And either gas or shipping to get materials. That leaves $43-$53 for the actual labor. If it takes an afternoon to do one, say 4 hours, then the artist gets $10.75 - $13.25 per hour for their work. (And delivery to the shop is free, with no allowance to pay for parking, gas or time required to get there.) Of course, that $10.75 - $13.25 per hour is gross, so take out 25% for taxes and the artist's take home is $8.06-$9.94 per hour. Where I live that ain't raising-a-family-with-a-mortgage money. As consumers, we just get used to seeing Asian labor prices on everything. Unique handmade designs are expensive. We knitters are lucky that we can DIY.

I agree with Morz8 about the fun colors toenails. For the fingernails, buffed and shiny, but no polish, would look nice with the outfit, or a pale, natural pink. I get the sparkles, but with them, adding more can so easily go to overdone. Lips would be nice with a sheer pink or frosted gloss. If you look at the styling for the current crop of canary and rhinestone dresses (it's a popular trend), you'll see a lot of fresh faces (no make-up look), simple nails, minimal jewelry, if any, The point is that the color and sparkles are "unnatural" and make a nice setting and contrast for the natural beauty of the wearer. I hope she has a marvelous time!

thanks, thanks a lot :) I am now going to look on ebay. I have found my perfect purse, wallet and laptop/work bag (backpack). They are coach. I carried them for about 10 years in brown (mahogany). since I used them daily they were kind of beat up by then and I decided I wanted to start using black. I found the exact bags, all three, in black, gently used, on ebay. it took some searching but I love them still. I think I need a back up though and as time goes on I am sure it will be harder to find. I need to set up my searches on ebay again!

I think many things affect the charges for alterations. If it is a busy store that did not sell you the garment, charge will be greater. A person working from home with little expense will most likely charge less. Prom time is peak time for a tailor to have a mountain of work. Prices usually will go up if demand is greater. The area in the country would have a bearing. Common practice in some areas to have alteration. A nice finished garment requires a very good tailor. Cost seems reasonable.