This dress is from the Victoria & Albert Collection. It was part of their "The Golden Age of Couture" exhibition which was back in 2008 and they put up a pattern of it for download so that we eager seamstresses can recreate this lovely dress. The pattern can be found here.
Well, and I've been trying. I like the shape of the dress. I particularly like the side pockets of the skirt, but I really don't like the band across the bust. Any embellishment straight across the bust is a definite no-no for full-busted gals like me. I thought I could just leave out the band and go ahead with the dress but that isn't really possible because I'd still be left with a seam right across the bust.
So, yes, I decided to draft the bodice myself from scratch instead of fiddling around with the original pattern. So far this has only turned out semi-successfully. At the moment my bodice has some pretty sad looking, strangely bulging and wonky bust darts (pictured below). I have decided that this is unacceptable for a couture dress so I'll need to cut the front bodice again.
We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted on the progress of the not-so-couture dress. In the meantime I'll leave you drooling over some of the items that were on display in "The Golden Age of Couture" exhibition. A Vintage lover's wet dream! The homepage of the exhibition is very nice too with lots of information on the designs and the couture houses of the time.
Hello, have come over from Sew Retro to visit your blog. I too went to the Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the V&A (and wasn't it heaven!) and I also have this idea that I'm going to try out this dress. I found a vintage pattern this summer that has a similar bodice (without the band under the bust, which I suspect is there mainly to cut down on what would otherwise be a large band of grey; I'll need to work that in somehow), and I have a vintage fabric with big wide stripes of flowers like this one... now all I need is the courage to embark upon the project, and the time of course! Can't wait to read about how you get on as I'm sure it'll prove very instructive.
ReplyDeleteWas wondering, in light of the Simplicity 3673 dress you've just made, which seems to fit perfectly, and has a similar kind of band under the bust - couldn't you adapt the bodice from that (simply adding those slanted raglan type sleeves)? Good luck in any case and I await the next stage!
Hi! Got here from Sew Retro. I did a post on this dress back in September. About the darts in particular. You might find it helpful? Here it is: http://marmaladekiss.blogspot.com/2009/09/darting-about.html
ReplyDeleteHey Nathalie, unfortunately I didn't actually go to the V&A exhibition myself. But I can imagine that it ws heaven! I only found out about the exhibition online. I've been redrafting the top part of the V&A dress without the band and it seems to slowly be coming together somehow...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete