Two women in Pittsburgh, PA have gotten together to offer custom dresses for all the ladies of the world. The project, called WearTheShift, allows you to select the style, size, and color of your shift dress and have it hand-made by artisans in the good old US of A. The service currently has a Kickstarter page and they are offering half-off beta dresses for those who are interested.

This idea is obviously not new as it&'s been tried with shirts, chocolate, and kicks. However, this is the first I&'ve seen that specifically targets women and their need for shapely, flirty shift dresses. Obviously if you&'re a guy and are into this, it could be a good way to get a dress made for your frame.

Best of all, they&'re looking for beta testers:

Join us at the $80 reward level and you will become a Beta Tester, which means 1) You tell us your measurements and pick a fabric 2) We send you a custom-made dress 3) You wear it and tell us what you think. (How&'s the length What do you think of the pockets Do you like the zipper placement How much would you be willing to pay for such a dress What would make it better Etc. We have a questionnaire.)

We&'ve got a good process going already, and we know you will love your Beta Dress. We just need your help to make the details sing. Our dresses are going to cost at least $160 when we launch in the spring, so you get a big discount in exchange for your feedback.

The pair, Megan Deitz (full disclosure: I was in Creative Writing classes with her in college) and Kelly Metzler, developed an algorithm for sizing dresses based on various measurements that creates flattering wearables without an in-person fitting. Their project will get funded if folks pledge up to $5,000 on Kickstarter, so if you need a nice little plaid number for your yearly neighborhood rugby tournament, this may be a great place to start. I, for one, would totally wear one if it&'s as flattering as they say because lord knows my current sartorial standards could use a boost.