Dress # 1: Assembly and Completion

So this one is a bit odd in terms of tracking progress because even though I made sure to bring my camera home for spring break for documentation purposes, I managed to leave the transfer cable sitting on my desk at school. Now, however, I am back and with my cable and thus able to upload pictures. Since I don't want to make this post enormous, however, I'm going to skip the cutting/pattern pictures.

Well, here's the concept:



Yes, it's quite scanty. I cheated and cleaned it up a bit for artistic effect. The original was scribbled on the back (yes, the back) of a post-it note...to assure my sister that there was some plan in effect. Here's how it turned out:



...as it would turn out, Jean Paul Gaultier had a dress with similar tulle ruffling in his recent collection. I saw the picture in the New York Times while in the midst of assembling this creation and was quite relieved that my argument that tulle is *so* in right now was actually valid. (As far as I'm concerned, any fabric that doesn't need to be hemmed is "in.")

Assembly time: roughly a week. While most of the base of the dress (specifically, the bodice and the lining) came from an altered Simplicity pattern (no mannequin makes patterning difficult, and I happen to know that this particular pattern works well for my sister's body type)the tulle portion of the project soon turned into a frilly nightmare that was threatening to swallow poor Johnny whole.



And gathering the stuff can become tedious at times...

Total material cost: $23.00. Yup, turns out I had a ton of what claims to be Italian silk hidden in my closet from a prior project, as well as some ribbon and lining material floating around in the attic. So essentially we spent roughly $20.00 on tulle...which is impressive, especially when that tulle is coming from Wal-Mart. (If only that lucky break could follow through...)

A couple of additional views (yes, there's a bit of a hole in the back there...break ended):





So...a little less Lady Gaga than initially intended, though I'm certain that the shapes incorporated are probably going to be the least conventional at this particular prom. And I'd go so far as to say that the design is slightly Alexander McQueen (may he rest in peace), except with Wal-Mart tulle in place of glorious feathers. I suppose part of the challenge of designing a dress for someone is knowing to what extent one can go. Going full-on Gaga would probably not be practical for a high-school prom, nor did the idea of making the body look strange by means of the dress really appeal here. In this case, the dress is odd and should definitely stand out in a crowd of conventional prom dresses, but also flattering and wearable.

Save for a few minor flaws (all of which have held important lessons for future reference), I'm pretty happy with how this first dress turned out.

One down, 999 to go.

Dress #1: Lady Gaga Goes To Prom

My sister is a self-described 'fashionista,' which makes it incredibly difficult to buy clothing for her, as in her case 'fashionista' is synonymous with 'extremely picky.' Dressing to impress is her way of life. Our personal styles tend towards being polar opposites. She's into gold, I prefer silver. Her motif is cheetah print, I'm a skull enthusiast. Etc.
Last year I put together a tea dress for her from a Simplicity pattern. She picked out a mustard-gold fabric with small pink roses and lavender sprigs decorating it...not my first choice, but the dress looked surprisingly good in the end, especially with the peeping tulle about the hem and the raspberry ribbon shoulder straps. (I believe she ended up ripping out the thin ribbon line I put about the waist, complete with a modest bow decoration that took HOURS to pin together correctly, but that's beside the point.) She ended up wearing the dress to a croquet party with a bunch of her friends and received many compliments...especially when it was revealed that it was a homemade endeavor.
Now, the junior prom will soon be upon us...and because that last dress was so successful, my sister has decided to give me another try. The pressure is on this time around since a) a prom dress is a bit more tricky than a tea dress and b) she's already told everyone that her dress is going to be nothing short of amazing.

The requirements for this dress are as follows:
1. It has to be nothing short of 'cool.'
2. It should evoke Lady Gaga.
3. It cannot look homemade.
4. It must be able to withstand vigorous dancing.

...and so it begins.