Don't get me wrong, now. I have made a hobby out of looking for, and laughing at, really awful square dance dresses. These are not it. These are something else entirely, and with some prettying up, could make a fantastic OP or JSK.
This thing looks like an old Bodyline piece, doesn't it? You know, before they pulled their heads out of the Sea of Ita and got their act together for the most part. This would need some considerable work. Removing all that lace and raising the bell of the skirt up the bodice a bit leaves a very cute sax blue OP behind. With a wide peter-pan collar/yoke and some cute cluny or eyelet lace across the bottom and sleeves, it would make a darling Old School-Sweet piece.
Look at those flowers! Taking off the skirt and tying it down with a dark colored bodice would work wonders to tone down the strong colors in the print, and it would look very classy with some draping sleeves, ALA JetJ's Ballerine Robe. Even removing the sleeves and turning it into a JSK with a thick white bow belt would work! It's very cute and summery, and could be easily dressed up or down.
This one would be easy, I think. The ground-work is already laid out here for a really pretty OTT Classic coord. It just needs a skirt lining, more gold trim up along the bottom hem and the neckline, and the right accessories to pull it together. It doesn't look that good on their old mannequin though, so presentation sort of screwed the pooch for this one. :(
This relatively simple piece is SUPER cute, and sporting a 25 inch skirt, would be a great starter piece for taller lolitas. The soft sax blue stripes and the clean lines feel very Victorian Maiden to me. A white bow at the collar, a little bit of trim on those sleeves, and some tailoring would make this a wonderful Classic or even a Sailor OP! I was tempted to buy this before I read the measurements. My bust would be too big for it. :( Oh well.
Now for one of mine that I DID salvage. I had been dying to get a sailor OP. I love the substyle for its clean lines, so when I saw this little baby on sale, I had to snap it up. I bought this for 30 dollars shipped from the same place I bought my petticoats. I lined it, made a snap-in insert for the collar, added some buttons, and walla!
About 7 months later, Metamorphose put out their yearly sailor OPs, and mine was a spitting image of them. Way to be ahead of the curve, me! :D
I've been tempted to buy a ton of these borderline dresses on discount, modify them into proper pieces, and sell them at conventions to new, would-be lolitas who would otherwise get ripped off buying bodyline or hideous lace-monsters at ridiculous markup. Why spend 215 on Bodyline at a con (seriously I saw that at Sakura-con this year), when you could get a very cute, very unique piece for half or a third of that price? In the end, when I started doing the math, I wouldn't be breaking even at all, not at the prices I would want to charge versus the cost of renting a table and transportation.
Now, it's your turn. Show me your salvaged pieces; Where did you find it, what did you do with it, and the end results!