More about that One Dress

Last time, I crowed about getting to participate in an awesome woman's One Dress Protest.  I made her black dress!  She is on a fashion fast, wearing her One Dress every day for an entire year.

Lacey, I am so impressed with you and with your reflections as you continue this journey of self knowledge.  You are inspiring and I feel proud of that terrific dress on lovely YOU!


I am soon to be making a couple more of the very wearable and attractive shift dresses.  I am being commissioned to make the custom dresses by a woman in the UK.  Here are some of the fabric choices:

wools

rayons

cotton tweed!

rayon twill with lycra

hand-dyed silk herringbone

One Dress Protest

I get to be part of One Dress Protest!

I just created a black dress from some fabulous hemp and tencel twill fabric from NearSeaNaturals.  I created the dress for a wonderful graduate student in Texas who is studying marriage and family therapy.  For one whole year, she is going to wear the One Dress every day as a way of becoming ever more intentional about how she experiences and presents herself in the world.

I may not be describing her project quite right...  But I am impressed with the idea of doing a sort of "fashion fast" in order to take some time to reflect and deliberate about clothing, fashion, style, and dress.

Thank you, Lacey, for inviting me to help you to prepare in my small way for your coming year of One Dress Protest!  Both my dress creation and my very self are honored to get to be part of your reflection and meditation.

The dress is a shift style frock, very elegant yet utilitarian.  The black twill is fashioned into a short sleeve, raglan sleeved style with a wide scooped neckline.  At center front and center back, there are small inverted box pleats.  The skirt portion of the dress is slightly A-lined and its wide hem ends a couple of inches above the knee.

If I were going to wear one dress for a whole year, this dress would be IT for me as well.  Beautiful and functional and sophisticated and comfortable, all in one dress.

Little Black Skirt becomes a dress once she is wrapped up....

The little skirt grows up to become a fantastic Little Black Dress.

To don this baby, you step into the narrow skirt (the fabric is stretchy yet substantial cotton/lycra knit), then draw the fabric up and over your shoulders.  To cinch the waist, you wrap the long ties around and around.  The black knit works well for the dress, but I can make this design in any light to medium weight fabric.  If it were made of a non-stretch fabric, I would simply insert a zipper into the side seam.

Here's the back:

To achieve this look, I pulled the back of the bodice up and over the shoulders first, then pulled the front bodice up and over the shoulders toward the back.  Those shoulder pieces create sleeves because I made them extra wide, wide enough to come down past the elbow.

Sure, I DO want to make one of these comfortable and flattering dresses for you!  How about royal blue cotton or wool jersey, worn with apricot and gold accessories?  Or short and WINTER WHITE, worn over skinny black pleather slacks?

Like a sari

As soon as I find just the right piece of silk, I want to create such a dress.  Ooooo!

The incredibly beautiful photo is by The Sartorialist (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/).  Thank you to Scott Shuman.

I need a new dress. I do!

I simply must have the gorgeous top by LeMuse.

WHY ON EARTH, you ask, would someone who makes fabulous one of a kind, original design, fun to wear clothes buy a new dress made by someone else?

Because I love LeMuse clothing and want to support the beautiful muse behind the beautiful and unique clothing.  Lina designs and creates the remarkable pieces featured in her shop, www.LeMuse.etsy.com.

I ordered her top, "Asymmetric Muse Blouse" yesterday.

Another version of that terrific dress

It is my donation to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

And it is gorgeous.

Here, the deep redpink linen version of the dress. Thanks to the beautiful Elizabeth for modeling it!

I will take any number of orders for this custom/made to measure dress.  Of the amount you pay for your version of the dress only a small portion will go for materials, the lion's share will go to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Because I am donating my labor when I make this special dress.

To view photos of the green knit version of the dress, see the listing in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/74063475/for-a-good-cause-custom-drape-front

I also featured the green knit "Execution is Out" look on Lookbook: http://lookbook.nu/look/1916806-execution-is-out

I will take any number of orders for this fund-raiser dress!

Want a beautiful new dress?  I can make it in whatever color you want.

Want your money to go to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty?

I will take any number of orders for this fund-raiser dress!  And I will send every bit of what you pay for the labor portion of your custom, made-to-measure dress right on to VADP.

For this dress, I began with a commercial pattern, but I redesigned it here and there for more flattering and more comfortable effects.

The green knit version of this dress now belongs to me (I had it up for sale as a one-of-a-kind dress, but decided I just can't part with it!).  What is for sale in my Etsy shop now is your chance to have me replicate my green knit dress to YOUR measurements and specifications.  And I am going to donate all my labor.

Go to the listing in KathleenTempleTailor to read more about the dress and about how the donation to VADP will work.  Thanks!