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Pink dress progress, maybe.
A friend of ours is celebrating her birthday with a theme party in less than a month. The theme - and the dress code - is her, which is a brilliant idea, I think. It's just causing me a bit of trouble, for although I love her style and we have things in common style-wise, I really want to do it properly, while still making a dress I can wear for other occasions, too - I could really use a good party dress, as opposed to all the too-campy and too-provocative club outfits I already have.
The two things I think of first when I think of my friend's style are pink and 1950's fashions. Neither is really my cup of tea, although I like both on others. I've been carefully approaching the idea of pink for a while, though, what with the Panzer dress and the insanely pink lipstick I bought to go with it, so I'm pretty sure I'm ready to wear a bright pink dress; just not a 50's-style one, and definitely not the softer shades of pink that my friend wears, that would be cutesy overload (and they don't look good with my colouring, anyway). So the final compromise is pink, but bright pink, and in a cut that is my usual favourite mix of 50's wiggle dress silhouette and 40's sleeves and details. I got as far as that several months ago.
Then I ran into a spot of trouble - every sketch I produced looked like something straight out of Doris' wardrobe. I don't expect anyone but the occasional Swede reading this to get that reference, so let's just say that Doris Karloff is a fictive character (played by a spectacular Birgitta Andersson) who wears tight orange capris with polka dots and ruffles at the bottom, along with high-heeled sandals and a very tight, very low-cut top with matching ruffles - you should get the picture, lots of leopard prints, hot pinks, big red hair and cleavage. I love Doris, but this dress is supposed to be the rated G, reasonably suitable for weddings, posh cocktail parties and big birthday bashes version of my wiggle dresses, so too Doris just doesn't do for this project.
Also, I really wanted to use the hot pink silk satin I made the piping for the Panzer dress from, and it's way too thin and slippery for wiggle dresses. I more or less shelved the whole project for a while.
I think I have a working sketch and a working fabric idea for it now, though; wiggle dress, cut off under the bust, with my usual favourite, stiff puffed sleeves, a high, round neckline that can either be closed from the underbust seam all the way up or left open to hint at some skin, and a sort of mock bustle in the back - I made a skirt last year with a bustle effect from three large self-fabric ovals lined in a contrasting fabric attached to the back of the skirt that turned out really nice, I'll use the same technique for this one. It'll be like a mullet dress - business in the front, party in the back!
I saw a hot pink and bright red silk dupioni that should work, if flatlined with something. It's darker and redder than the hot pink I originally wanted, but I might just line the bustle and the bodice with the hot pink satin. Not sure the contrast is big enough, though, I'll have to think about that.
I'm also considering choosing a slightly more sedate base colour and contrast it with the hot pink satin, like brown or maroon or something, but I don't love the idea and it would be chickening out, in a way. I don't think I'd like that dress nearly as much, but it would be more.. sensible, I suppose.
Shoes, bag and hose are still a problem. I really would love to wear these crazy gorgeous shoes with it, but they are a. way out of my budget, b. hard to get hold of, c. impossible to find a matching bag for, forcing me to make one out of the dress fabric which would be a bore and d. way, way out of my budget. If I'd go for brown or maroon I would definitely need hot pink shoes to make up for it, though, which makes that an economically unsound idea too, now that I come to think of it. Ha!
Oh well. I'll have a look around the dance supply shops and see if I can find something pretty and inexpensive in a nice, neutral nude or beige - that would work too, with nude fishnets or something. I have a pair of black patent t-bars and a couple of black patent bags that I can fall back on too, but I'd rather not wear black shoes and bag with it. Definitely not black hose.
Suggestions welcome, as always. I think I'll try to photograph my fabric samples and the sketch tomorrow. Must go to sleep now.
The two things I think of first when I think of my friend's style are pink and 1950's fashions. Neither is really my cup of tea, although I like both on others. I've been carefully approaching the idea of pink for a while, though, what with the Panzer dress and the insanely pink lipstick I bought to go with it, so I'm pretty sure I'm ready to wear a bright pink dress; just not a 50's-style one, and definitely not the softer shades of pink that my friend wears, that would be cutesy overload (and they don't look good with my colouring, anyway). So the final compromise is pink, but bright pink, and in a cut that is my usual favourite mix of 50's wiggle dress silhouette and 40's sleeves and details. I got as far as that several months ago.
Then I ran into a spot of trouble - every sketch I produced looked like something straight out of Doris' wardrobe. I don't expect anyone but the occasional Swede reading this to get that reference, so let's just say that Doris Karloff is a fictive character (played by a spectacular Birgitta Andersson) who wears tight orange capris with polka dots and ruffles at the bottom, along with high-heeled sandals and a very tight, very low-cut top with matching ruffles - you should get the picture, lots of leopard prints, hot pinks, big red hair and cleavage. I love Doris, but this dress is supposed to be the rated G, reasonably suitable for weddings, posh cocktail parties and big birthday bashes version of my wiggle dresses, so too Doris just doesn't do for this project.
Also, I really wanted to use the hot pink silk satin I made the piping for the Panzer dress from, and it's way too thin and slippery for wiggle dresses. I more or less shelved the whole project for a while.
I think I have a working sketch and a working fabric idea for it now, though; wiggle dress, cut off under the bust, with my usual favourite, stiff puffed sleeves, a high, round neckline that can either be closed from the underbust seam all the way up or left open to hint at some skin, and a sort of mock bustle in the back - I made a skirt last year with a bustle effect from three large self-fabric ovals lined in a contrasting fabric attached to the back of the skirt that turned out really nice, I'll use the same technique for this one. It'll be like a mullet dress - business in the front, party in the back!
I saw a hot pink and bright red silk dupioni that should work, if flatlined with something. It's darker and redder than the hot pink I originally wanted, but I might just line the bustle and the bodice with the hot pink satin. Not sure the contrast is big enough, though, I'll have to think about that.
I'm also considering choosing a slightly more sedate base colour and contrast it with the hot pink satin, like brown or maroon or something, but I don't love the idea and it would be chickening out, in a way. I don't think I'd like that dress nearly as much, but it would be more.. sensible, I suppose.
Shoes, bag and hose are still a problem. I really would love to wear these crazy gorgeous shoes with it, but they are a. way out of my budget, b. hard to get hold of, c. impossible to find a matching bag for, forcing me to make one out of the dress fabric which would be a bore and d. way, way out of my budget. If I'd go for brown or maroon I would definitely need hot pink shoes to make up for it, though, which makes that an economically unsound idea too, now that I come to think of it. Ha!
Oh well. I'll have a look around the dance supply shops and see if I can find something pretty and inexpensive in a nice, neutral nude or beige - that would work too, with nude fishnets or something. I have a pair of black patent t-bars and a couple of black patent bags that I can fall back on too, but I'd rather not wear black shoes and bag with it. Definitely not black hose.
Suggestions welcome, as always. I think I'll try to photograph my fabric samples and the sketch tomorrow. Must go to sleep now.