How to Zip Up a Dress by Yourself

The setup

Back zippers are a design that assumes you live with someone. You get it halfway, then your arm hits the limit of what shoulders can do, and the zipper sits stuck between your shoulder blades.

Why it's hard alone

Your hand can reach the bottom of the zipper from below and the top from above, but the hand-off point in the middle is where you lose it. The pull is tiny, slippery and pointing the wrong way. The fix is to make the pull longer.

The solo method

1. Zip it partway before you put it on. Step into the dress (rather than pulling it over your head) with the zipper already a third of the way up. Less distance to cover.
2. The string trick. Thread a ribbon or string through the zipper pull (or hook a safety pin through it and tie the string to the pin). Drape the string over your shoulder and pull straight up. Slip the string out once you're zipped.
3. The hanger hook. Hook the end of a wire hanger, or a long key ring, through the pull and use it as a handle.
4. Use a mirror behind you. A second mirror, or your phone's front camera held over your shoulder, lets you see the pull when it catches.
5. Stop fabric snags. Hold the bottom of the zipper taut with your other hand behind your back as you pull up.
6. Unzipping is the same, in reverse. Leave the string attached during the evening if you'll need to undo it alone later.

What nobody tells you

The moment that actually goes wrong isn't zipping up; it's getting out of a fitted dress at the end of the night. Plan for it before you leave: keep the string or tool in your bag.