Agreed Tiny Dancer - my mom does that too :) I think kids need to believe in Santa for as long as possible... instead of getting their little hearts broken suddenly. Once they start to kinda put the pieces together, it's not a huge letdown with they discover the truth.
The girl is blaming the media for her losing her job? Puh-lease... maybe you should have thought before a.) bathing in a dishawasher and b.) posting the pictures in a public forum!
I've heard of doing this with stickers, but not with a gown. I would think that the gown would cause some unevenness if it wasn't completely flat on the body.