Help!

[cupofpoison.livejournal.com]

Hey ladies. I have a problem, and unfortunately not much experience to resolve it. We've been given the ok to dress up for Halloween at my workplace, and I was in the nearby Salvation Army thrift shop and found a fabulous retro shift dress from either the sixties or seventies. It looks both authentic and home-made. However, it had really ugly sleeves that came down to just under the elbows and has a really ugly zipper all the way down the front. I took the sleeves off, so it looks more like this now: http://www.chickdowntown.com/viewproduct.asp?ID=68950 only with a better collar around the neck. Anyway, do you ladies (especially you expert sewers, you!) have any idea if there's anything I can do about the hideous zipper down the front of the dress? I've looked all over the internet for several days and couldn't really find anything satisfying to my retro fashion sensibilities. You are my last hope! lol If nothing can be done about it, I guess it's not a tragedy, I'll wear it as-is. I'm just hoping maybe one of you will have an idea.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/tips you all might have. I promise to post pictures when I'm done with all my alterations and have finished the costume.

And just so this isn't all text, here are some pendants my fiance and I made recently based on masks from around the world:






Thanks!