Dress Developments V: My dress! (almost) Saturday, August 22, 2009

Well, I promised you a sketch! If you've been reading my blog (ha!), a while back I posted about my dress inspirations. At the time, I was choosing between an ethereal, organza-y outdoor looking dress, or a classically styled gown.

Since we've gone for the indoor wedding in a chic (to me, at least) downtown club, the classically styled gown seems best! And honestly, I'm excited about it. I'm a classic girl, and the organza thing is great (I don't know if I can let that outdoor wedding dream go), but I have always drooled over beautifully styled ballgowns, so I'm happy with that!

In my last dress post, I mentioned having several inspiration pictures to show the seamstress. I had an idea in my head how these would be combined, but hadn't fleshed it out yet. Stylistically, my favorite designers are Priscilla of Boston/Melissa Sweet, Suzanne Neville, and Lea Ann Belter. No matter what direction my search went, I kept being drawn to their dresses over and over again.

Once I studied dress shapes & took a serious look at my body type, I began to go towards dresses I knew could look good on me.

My favorites included this Priscilla of Boston 4119...


I know that I like to wear wrap-style dresses, and I liked this one by Suzanne Neville... especially the way the fabric looks.



And, two "left field" picks: I love the way this Melissa Sweet dress sparkles (also, this dress cemented for me how I want to wear my veil)... click the video to see the sparkles in action!



And I love the crisp, clean look of Lea-Ann Belter. I especially love her for the way she uses fabric, particularly silk dupioni (I'm going to do a whole separate post on fabric one of these days!).


But none of these would work as-is. I need a modified neckline, and a dropped waist that's a little higher than what's pictured here.

Truthfully, I was hoping a designer/seamstress could look at me, look at my pictures, and put something together. I guess that's a little much to ask. After all, most of us don't look like bridal models and it's the rare seamstress that can visualize things that well!

And I couldn't, either, until this dress came out (from Mori Lee's new plus size line):


Finally, a form-fitting dress on a model that looks... well, she looks beautiful! But she also looks a little like me. My mom pointed out that I have a similar body type to this lady, and I like the overall shape of the dress. That was the push I needed, and I finally created a sketch.

Are you ready for the unveiling? Here it is...



It has the asymmetrical bodice/skirt like the Priscilla of Boston, the wrap-style top of the Suzanne Neville, the neckline of the Mori Lee. For fabric, I was inspired by Lea Ann Belter, so I plan to use silk dupioni, and of course, I plan to add sparkle. I found some beaded lace that is almost identical to that used in the Melissa Sweet dress.

I may end up changing the fabric, but that's a long way off (and with everything I've learned about fabric, it deserves its own separate post).

In the meantime, there it is... I think it's my dress!

*Updated: Originally I forgot to post the back of the dress. It's there now.