Dog's dinner

to make a dog's dinner (of)

The Polizei had made a dog's dinner of this. Vera would have done better, no doubt of it. It now remained to be seen whether the Law would do better.

She must look like a real dog's dinner. No wonder he'd been looking over her head to the girl who took the coats.

Just think; without that Mrs Pankhurst and her wrecking crew jumping under racehorses (phwooar!) and chaining themselves to railings (kinky!), these young women would be out getting an education and respecting their own sexuality, not getting themselves up like dog’s dinners and being the passive playthings of men.

The folio text is unevenly spaced (the compositor made a dog's dinner of setting the text), with three spaces closed up...