Dance issues...ugh

[BakersDozen]

This is the first time I've faced a situation like this so I need input, please. My older girls are performing at the upcoming Highland Games (Irish step dancing). Way back in February the idea was put out among the group to have new outfits ordered (right now they wear button down shirts, plaid skirts, poodle socks and dance shoes - very basic). A few ideas were presented yet met with resistance from one mom or another: too expensive, too short, etc. One mom's daughter is built a bit more stocky so none of the outfits met with her approval as they were a bit "curvy", if that makes sense. I bowed out of the discussion quickly as I sensed a storm brewing, and I was right.

 

These uniforms were to be ordered for their performances in March for St. Patrick's Day. Needless to say, March came and went and no new uniforms. In April it was decided by one of the more vocal moms that new outfits would be made. She secured a woman who would help and said she would take care of everything. By the middle of April, fabric had not even been ordered.

 

The Games are this Saturday and the outfits are still not finished. This woman and her daughters are working around the clock to sew the skirts and vests (which look like something you would see on a 3rd grader, btw). When we offered to take our skirts and sew them she told us 'no' as she wants to oversee everything. My 17yod was not even allowed to take her vest last night and lace it at home. It's a bit ridiculous.

 

So here's the kicker. The outfits might not be done for Saturday. Plus we are all supposed to chip in $ to pay the woman who is making the shirts. The $ for these outfits came from a performance the girls did last year and yet the girls didn't get the $ to spend on new dance shoes (which would have been a huge blessing for us!), rather the one mom decided how the $ was to be spent. There was over $500 for 6 girls and we are still being asked to pay $.

 

I could have purchased white shirts for next to nothing. I could have ordered a lovely dance dress for about $70. We could have had new shoes. Yet now the $ is gone on outfits that are ugly as can be, might not be available for Saturday, and we are still paying.

 

I am livid, yet because I bowed out of the brewing cat fight I guess I have no say, right? My girls are disgusted by the entire thing yet I don't know what to tell them or how to handle this.

 

Oh, and an email came through this morning that money is being collected as a gift for the mom who took on this enormous sewing project. I'd much rather have the money my girls earned back, thank you very much.