January 20, 2015

Dress reveal!

A nice surprise today: E got home so early that we had time to take pictures!

So, I quickly got to work to get myself properly kitted up to show off my new dress to best effect. After all, circa 1950, no proper lady would leave her house without gloves and a hat... 

As I've mentioned before, I made this dress, after serious consideration of patterns, from a lovely black wool crepe which has been in my stash for a while (I bought it when the best of our local fabric stores, Toetenel, was having its closing-down sale). The bodice is lined with thin and soft black cotton, the skirt with regular lining material. I ended up not using the blue silk because I didn't have enough of it. And the end, that may be for the best. You would hardly have seen it under this skirt.

This is what the technical drawing looks like. As usual, I drafted this pattern myself. I don't have particular sources of inspiration to show for it. This is just how my mind combines my love for a ±1950 silhouette with my obsession for clean shapes and visible 'bones' of the pattern (seams and darts) and my enduring addiction to interesting pockets. 
What you can't see in the drawing is that there are no side seams. Just side panels which extend into the underarm gussets. Works well. 

The skirt is a half circle which I made slightly longer at the back (I do that sometimes. Not on pencil-skirts, of course).

When I first tried it on, I wasn't sure about this dress. I feared it might end up looking just a bit frumpy. But that was before I added these pockets. I love a stick-out pocket, and I've found plenty of examples from 1940's and 1950's fashion which prove I'm not alone in that.


So there you have it... This dress is quite chique but still very comfortable. And nice and warm too.


I don't think proper ladies would do things like jumping around but any dress like this is great for twirling...

20 comments:

  1. Wow this is an impressive dress. You are so talented.

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  2. That is a really stunning dress, and I love the giant pockets. They are such a simple but interesting detail.

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  3. lovely!!! i recently tried sewing gussets and its somewhat difficult for me but so lovely, yours looks very cool in the line drawing (cant really see them in photos)

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  4. That's gorgeous! Love the seaming details and, of course, the crazy pockets. I wonder if I could pull off pockets like that... my hips sure need all the help they can get. ;)

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  5. fabulous - great shape on you. classic look and love the hat as well.

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  6. Gorgeous dress, it really suits you! I still have a piece of red crepe wool in my stash from when Toetenel in Amstelveen closed down, oh how I miss that store!

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  7. That's a wonderful dress!
    LG Carolin

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  8. Beautiful! I love a chic black dress.

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  9. absolutely gorgeous, and the skirt has a great twirl to it, really perfect, really love the neckline

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  10. Very flattering on you! I think the pockets create an even smaller waist as they enhance your hip-line...

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  11. Fabulous, very chic! The pockets really make the dress complete

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  12. Oh Lauriana, this dress you made is wonderful! I like the concept you used of the side panels or gussets going up into the underarm area. I hadn't thought of that. It's a real stunner and reminds me of Audrey Hepburn. Thank you for posting!

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  13. Gorgeous particularly the pickets.

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  14. So flattering, and just a gorgeous dress in every way. You look fabulous in it!

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  15. So nice with the hat and gloves. The problem with wearing with lots of black is that it is so hard to see details on photographs, thank goodness for the line drawings. Keep up the good work, always inspiring.

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  16. You look gorgeous! And those pockets are wonderful - so stylish!!

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