Dress Form Base Woes and Superman To The Rescue

If you follow my day-to-day adventures with life, you know more than anyone would really like to know about my dress form from Fabulous Fit.  This post may be the end of it, because Fabulous Fit -- the company I bought Lucy and her monster base/pole from -- refuses to do anything else to help me.  They won't exchange the dress form -- they won't send a different pole -- they won't answer questions Jerry had about construction of her legs so he could re-engineer the base himself.  Their favorite customer response is this:

"You don't know what you are doing."

I wonder how many wheelchairs we would be selling today if that had been Jerry's response to the severely crippled customers he deals with.  Do you know that a paralyzed person can actually FEEL whether the wheelchair fits them right or not?  Customers will tell us that other companies just don't care.  Jerry will help them for days, weeks or months -- whatever it takes.  He has many emails and cards from customers praising him for his patience and for just "caring" enough to get it right.  I remember two instances where Jerry went into his barn and worked for several days designing and building a special part for someone's wheelchair because there was nothing like it on the market.  He couldn't get paid for it, but he did it anyway.

Spending Wednesday and Thursday with Jerry at his mother's house in Kingfisher, Jerry noticed how much pain I was in.  He kept promising me that he would FIX that poorly constructed base and pole for me.  I told him I didn't want him to have to spend any more time working on my dress form woes, but you know how he is -- Mr. Fixit -- no matter what it takes.  So when we got home to our house yesterday afternoon about 4 PM, he stopped working on his taxes and spent the evening working on the base.  I won't go into HOW he fixed it because I don't want to tell Fabulous Fit how he fixed it.  Since we "don't know what we are doing", I'm sure they would tell us he did it all wrong.

But look at the two pictures.  In one she is head and shoulders above me.  In the second, we are the same level.  Now, is THAT so much to ask -- really?

Jerry spent a whole hour at Ace Hardware looking for just the right doohickeys to fix the pole for me. 

So now, I can work with her for open-front or open-back blouses ONLY.  Cannot turn the form anymore.  Can't do pants because I can no longer raise the pole.  Can't do tee shirts -- which I make a LOT of, because I would still have to lift her TWENTY POUND figure up and off the pole.  You cannot just LEAN her forward out of the upper catch as FF says you can, because it is made to STAY in -- obviously.  Hence, you have to lift it.

Warning to all of you not-so-perfectly-shaped women wanting a dress form and not having the strength of Superman, please don't get this style dress form or this base UNLESS you have a WRITTEN promise that you can return it for a full refund or exchange it for another model.  I have saved all the emails from this company, and I would be happy to share them with anyone interested.

I have not sewn a stitch all week long.  UNHEARD of for me, but I was just in too much pain in my upper back and neck to enjoy it.  I am going to start a project this morning now that the form is MY HEIGHT, and I don't have to lift her.  Of course, whatever I start will have to be open in the front or the back.

Update as of a few hours later than above:  I just received an unexpected email from Max at Fabulous Fit saying they will send me another SHORTER pole that I can tilt the form forward on.  Praise The Lord!!!  I am thankful they thought of something for me to try.  Watch for a new-improved-happy Joy if the new pole works out.  I will praise FF from the rooftops!

Hugs, Joy