Hi folks, just got a reply from Mark Bremmer-the BB of Carrara.  There is no mesh locking available.  However, beginning with Carrara 7, you can do all your fitting in the assembly room and work your way around the manikin-plus you can use the whole figure.  In Carrara 5 Pro, you have to work with hips, chest, thighs, shoulders etc separately in the vertex room and fit them together in the assembly room errrgh, errgh, triple errgh.

Just info for the Carrara model builders that are also Poser addicts (like me).

Laurie, what a neat looking dress, love it.  Jan