Flapper Fringe Swing Dress
If only Maria had come from a cathouse, and not a convent, the Von Trapps' dresses she fashioned from curtains might have looked like this. Katie cut the fringe curtain to approximately knee length, then again to fine-tune the hemline. Since the fringe is never attached directly to the dress, this can be a temporary change.

What You'll Need
An ankle-length navy blue strapless dress minus 24 inches of length
1 44-inch-wide fringe window curtain ($35 each, in Teal, from Mood Fabrics, 212-730-5003)
2 hooks-and-eyes
Scissors

Fringe Dress How-To
1. Using a sewing machine or a needle and thread, shorten the full length dress. To maximize the flapper appeal (and to make the most of the model's great legs), Katie hemmed the dress at mid-thigh.

2. Cut the fringe curtain to about knee length (to make it more manageable).

3. Wrap the curtain around yourself, at your upper chest, and use a pin to mark the spot where they meet. Add about three inches to that circumference -- to allow for a light overlap -- and cut.

4. Sew one hook-and-eye set at the top of the curtain's band, at the pin placed in step 3; add another a few inches below, at the bottom edge of the band.

5. Put on the dress, then fasten on the fringe. Enlist a friend (boyfriend? Free leg show!) to snip the fringe so it's a little less than an inch longer than the dress hem. (You can do this yourself using a dress form or a skirt hanger.

"Maudissimo" satin heels, $520, by Christian Louboutin (www.christianlouboutin.fr)