One of my great clients!

Every so often we get one of those great weddings that causes a stir in town, and last night was one.  The "club" in town was transformed into a flower garden deluxe and the imagination of the decorations was just over-the-top fabulous.  The word got out and people were streaming through looking at all the goings on during set-up, which made it a little difficult, and finally the planners had to close off the club as they couldn't get the work done in time.  It was run flawlessly and it was a pleasure to work with the family. I've heard horror stories about working weddings such as these and I hesitate to take them on, but the kids and parents could not have been nicer (my guardian angel was looking out over me the whole time).  They continually thanked all the workers large and small and were appreciative of all the effort made on their behalf.  They were all truly lovely people. 

But of course, I was interested in the clothes.  The bride wore a gorgeous Oscar de la Renta, and aside from being a gorgeous girl, so a gunny sack would look fabulous on her, this dress was exquisite and a chance to share the beauty of elegance.  Part of what I most enjoy (other than the beauty itself) is the opportunity to garner what very fine designers are doing in design, style, cut, line, embellishment and craftsmanship.

 The first thing that hit me was that this was Oscar de la Renta's take on Elizabeth Taylor's dress in A Place in The Sun with Montgomery Cliff.  I can't even believe that the publicity photos on IMDB don't even have this dress in the gallery.  It caused a huge furor, as every young girl in America wanted this dress for their prom dress.

It was constructed of gobs of tiny little  flower petals all over the bust area of the bodice, with gradually decreasing flowers on the skirt.  Designed by Edith Head, it was one of the first examples of movies having a clear affect on fashion. 

Here's a close up of the Oscar dress:

And although these weren't daisy petals, the flowers here were all separately crocheted and then applied by hand onto the fabric - which was a layer of beautiful, cascade-designed Chantilly lace.  There were two sies of flowers and as the gown moved from the bodice to the hem, the flowers gradually diminished. 

This not only gives us gobs of ideas about embellishments for our own clothing but also use in other areas besides formal wear.  For example a line of flowers or trim like this, and cutting off the flowers from the trim, placed end on end around the neck for a top or dress can be very effective, even if only in the same color.  The texture and delicate nature of this design carries off beautifully.

But that's not the end of the surprises as this wedding.  Most weddings are filled with the normal garb of chiffon and a plethora of Spanx.  Not that I don't like Spanx nor that I don't have my full inventory of them and use them quite often, it's just that Spanx can only do so much and most formal wear seams to have a bad habit of fitting like it was Lycra three sizes too small.  Not the case for this event, as the mother of the groom was decked out in the most gorgeous, understated, yet totally elegant gown I've seen in a long time.

Beading and some embellishments can cover up a lot of mistakes in fitting, where as a gown that is simple and elegant, exposes every mistake, or makes construction shine like you wouldn't believe.  Combine that with an incredible cut, and voila - a gorgeous gown. 
I've darkened this photo up a bit to show the detail.  This was a woven silk/linen damask.  So first of all the design is woven into the fabric, and not applied or printed later on.  The dress was additionally the most delicate celery green/aqua color that toned beautifully with everyone else's garments in the wedding  but of course not taking away from the bride.  As a matter of fact, it's simplicity and elegance was totally appropriate, and yet made it a stand-out.


For me the first thing I notice, and I will be honest, I didn't expect to see was the hem - it's cut on the border, so that means that the hem needs to be shortened from the waist.    This was a dead give-away that we were not dealing with a normal dress.  This was a well-made, possibly couture garment.  Although very simple cut and lovely fabric, which belie it's true elegance.  And therein lies the real beauty - it is NOT showy, it's very, very subtle, and yet upon further examination it's constructed, designed and assembled with mastery and great care.

Here's the dramatic example.  Imagine my joy to find that not only had the border design been preserved, but that the dress had a distinct train (which was bustled up for the reception as seen here).  This is such a subtle design element that it's hard to notice.  As a matter of fact about 90% of folks won't notice anything at all askew, but those who have tried and made such garments, will immediately look at the hem to check it out.

So let's think about this for a minute.....the train on the dress is lower, and as most we sewists know, you have to angle that down so that the border is cut, leaving enough for a hem, but showing the border to be even with the hem.  Something like this:

 

This is all fine and dandy, but you're cutting with the border on the selvedge, which is not on the "straight" of the grain of the fabric, and it's not even on the straight of the widthwise grain.  This also means that you have a center front seam which you must match and hopefully there is a symmetry to the design (widthwise) so that you can match it.  Otherwise you have the design going in the same direction, but it's not symmetrical.

The other solution is to design a panel that you can use to cut the skirt from:

In this way, the design is more on the straight, and the woven damask border can be woven so that it matches the designer's hem line for the dress.  Additionally, the front piece can actually be created so that it's on the fold and the front symmetry can be preserved.

So again, let's look at the front of this dress.  There's no seam in center front (I know this cause I had my eyeball and hands on this dress), so that means the center front is cut all in one piece and notice that the design in front is symmetrical, and yet the border is cut so that it's even with the hem.  My expert guess is that the fabric was woven specifically for this gown.  The more you examine this piece the lovelier it gets!

Here's a pretty good representation of the color and design in front, and notice (which at this point is no surprise) how the design centers on center front (and center back) so that it's not askew to the left or right.

These are all design elements that we as sewists, would consider a given.  But in RTW and in expensive RTW this is hard to find.  This was couture, and for me reeked it.  Her delightful little organza jacket to be more modest in the church was a wonderful addition to this elegant gown.  One note though - it would have been perfect with a waistband inserted into the inside to deflect the weight of the skirt.  The person who wore this had enough good sense not to tug at the gown all night long, but I could tell it would have been fabulously perfect with a waistband in the dress.  I'm not sure why this didn't include that because the dress was obviously beautifully designed.

OK - hope you got some ideas and were as inspired as this little trek through couture-ville as I was.  It's fun to share this, and even more fun to have an enjoyable evening working with enjoyable clients!