How can I shorten the straps on a dress with some sort of fastener or minimal sewing?

Try sewing a button and button hole, you can always go back later and change it if you don’t like the fit.

How about using junk shop clip-on earrings to shorten them temporarily.

@FGS: That’s a good idea, but I have little faith in my abilities. I could give it a try…

@gailcalled: me likey… go idea.

Preferably rhinestone buttons-types. Making a button hole by hand is tricky and does leave a permanent hole in the fabric.

@ubersiren It’s really not as tough as you think, just give it a shot.

Beaded safety pins

@all Come on now…I’m a guy with nothing more than an ass load of “Home Ec” experience behind me…long story..had to do with the girl to guy ratio in the beginning… but I digress..dig deep, there should be a solution out there somewhere…

“good” idea, not “go” idea…

Glitzy hair pins.

Check out the junk jewelry in second hand shops to find matching gaudy broaches or pins and use those to gather up and shorten the straps.

Back in the forties and fifties ladies sometimes had matching rhinestone clips that they used to keep their artfully draped sweater from sliding off their shoulders. Those could work, too.

And there is always hot glue, the theater costumer’s friend.

I have a dress like that, that I just doubled over about an inch of the straps (on the inside of the dress, in the back) and then safety pinned it that way. Yeah, there’s a little tiny silver line on each side, but it’s the back of the dress, and really unnoticeable anyway. It took like five minutes, and I can take it out anytime.

My answer is the same as La chica’s. I’ve done this several times on my kid’s dresses/camisoles. If you’re lucky, the dress may even have a double layer (either a lining, or just at a seam) and you can just pin through the inner one… then you can’t see the pins at all.

@La_chica_gomela + @augustlan = my new dress solution.

Thanks everyone!