Fourth Challenge: Little Black Dress
This week's challenge was all about the classic little black dress.
For this challenge we asked them to create a story for us.
Their dress should be able to tell us a story.
Where they are going? Who they are going with? What will they be doing?
Make sure to vote for your favorite design below!
Channeling my name sake Audrey Hepburn, (my mother was a huge fan) I will be wearing my version of a LBD Audrey made famous in the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). I will be wearing it when my husband and I attend the opening night festivities for the exhibit “Hollywood Costume” at the VA Museum of Fine Arts on Nov 9th.
How appropriate it is to wear an iconic dress to an exhibit that explores the central role costume design plays in cinematic storytelling. My dress is sleeveless with a cowl neckline, and a gathered pegged skirt trimmed with feathers. The fabric is black wool challis, lined in Bemberg rayon.
Where am I going in my LBD? Hmmm I don't get out much so excuse me as I let my imagination run wild. I imagine a night out with my husband to a fancy schmancy restaurant. While waiting for a table at the bar I will order one of those drinks with the olive...Martini right? After stuffing myself with veal scaloppine piccata and creme brulee (ooh sounds fancy right? I totally googled it) and one too many martini's we decide to throw caution to the wind and ditch all the fanciness for some real fun by visiting the bar next door for some dancing and karaoke. After a rather embarrassing rendition of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" we decide to call it a night. We make it home safely where our pug Vito is patiently waiting for his doggie bag. Check out my blog for construction details of the dress but more importantly a picture of our fat little pug Vito.
Shams from Communing with Fabric
For this challenge, I have made a dress to wear to the Opening Night of the Fall Antique Show at Fort Mason!
One of San Francisco's most popular social events, it also benefits the Enterprise for High School Students (EHSS), a non-profit career development agency serving San Francisco youth. The opening night is a festival of eating, drinking, music, socializing, of seeing, and of being seen. You can view photos of a past show: http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/socialdiary/2006/06_23_06/socialdiary06_23_06.php
My Little Black Dress, McCalls #6028, features a slim silhouette and is fitted via front and back princess seams, with a slit in hem the left front princess seam. The front yoke, and the back neckline, are embellished with silver-colored, two-prong studs made from nickel and steel - these strong studs required some effort to install. The back is finished with an exposed zipper.
You can read more about the construction of the dress, and details about the studs, on my blog.
One of San Francisco's most popular social events, it also benefits the Enterprise for High School Students (EHSS), a non-profit career development agency serving San Francisco youth. The opening night is a festival of eating, drinking, music, socializing, of seeing, and of being seen. You can view photos of a past show: http://www.newyorksocialdiary.
My Little Black Dress, McCalls #6028, features a slim silhouette and is fitted via front and back princess seams, with a slit in hem the left front princess seam. The front yoke, and the back neckline, are embellished with silver-colored, two-prong studs made from nickel and steel - these strong studs required some effort to install. The back is finished with an exposed zipper.
You can read more about the construction of the dress, and details about the studs, on my blog.
My dream date is some time out with my husband and since he only puts a tie on for weddings and funerals, a formal black dress just wouldn't work. So....my dream date is breakfast at the beach.
My husband and I love to go out to breakfast. On any given day you can find us at the local bagel store. The beach restores my soul so making the 20 minute drive on a beautiful morning to the beach seems like the perfect date.
I made a wrap dress out of black handkerchief linen from my stash and trimmed it with cream bias tape. I embroidered a floral design on the waistband and lined the top in the same black linen. I decided not to line the skirt because it would be too heavy and lose it's "swish" which is very important in a sundress!
Meghan from Made by Meg
(Meg's dress is black, but because of the mustard background and the lighting it may show up dark blue on your screen.)
Meet "Christine." She's the talk of the town, daring and fashion forward, and yet dark and mysterious. You can find her at the opera or ball gala, but catch her quick! She appears for a moment at the top of the stairs, her dress swirling around her in the night, and the next moment she's vanished back into the shadows with nothing but the tail of her cape disappearing into the crowd. At least this is how I picture myself when I wear this dress ;)
To create the look of the elusive temptress for a fancy night out, I combined the sexy form-fitting LBD with the mystery of a flowing black cape. But the real mystery was in the construction, with figuring out how to connect these two contradictory pieces together. This is done at the shoulder seems and front chest, and some rather tricky corner seams. For added fullness, the back cape contains two vents hidden in the seams. I love this dress for when I want to get noticed without revealing too much, just like Christine!
To create the look of the elusive temptress for a fancy night out, I combined the sexy form-fitting LBD with the mystery of a flowing black cape. But the real mystery was in the construction, with figuring out how to connect these two contradictory pieces together. This is done at the shoulder seems and front chest, and some rather tricky corner seams. For added fullness, the back cape contains two vents hidden in the seams. I love this dress for when I want to get noticed without revealing too much, just like Christine!
Kathy from Kathy Sews
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I chose a simple, clean, A-line dress and modified the back by adding a keyhole cut-out and 2 vintage jade-green buttons. I'm all about classic lines with an surprising element. This dress is made out of a cashmere/wool blend and is absolutely luxurious. I am going to see the San Francisco Ballet perform Cinderella at Lincoln Center in a few weeks and this is the dress I am going to wear! It's elegant, rich, and timeless. That's how a night out in your LBD should feel!
Voting ends Wednesday at Midnight!
Remember: Have fun!
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Posted on October 08 2013
They all did a fantastic and I enjoyed reading their stories! I loved Communing with Fabrics dress, the studs and the exposed zipper were great! Also, Kathy Sews' reversible dress is genius! But, as x soon as I laid eyes on Meg's dress I got the feel of where she might be going, and I was correct! My next choice would be Audrey's dress. Congratulations to all the ladies for a beautiful challenge!
I can't help but comment on the fit of the dresses. Though they are very creative, some of them just don't fit very well on the bodies. Is this something that should be taken into consideration in voting??
Excellent entries, each and every one of them. Thank you to all the contestants!
That was a tough one! So many great dresses here! I especially loved Shams', Shannon's and Diane's. See?!?!
Wow! Each challenge gets better and better! Very hard to choose, especially last time… and even more so for this challenge! Great job, ladies!
Shams, your dress is so elegant with just the right edge. The beautiful styling makes it a spot-on winner! Enjoy your work.
Marianne
This was hard. I wavered between Audrey and Meghan. So sorry I couldn't vote for both. Gosh, I hope it turns out to be a tie between those two!
Are we voting ONLY for the story and not the garment?
Diane's LBD is the bomb!
This was a fun challenge! I've loved seeing everyone's take on the LBD!! :)
Wish we had more than one vote. Since the Fabricista's are judging in the background, it would be nice for us to vote for our top three (at least for some challenges), since there are so many great entries. Maybe in the next contest?!
You're voting for your favorite.
Yes, a group of us go through and rate each of the contestants on a variety of items including fit.
The voting should allow you to vote for more than one with the way we set up the survey.
!!!!
Oh my – all pretty – but Shams gets my vote – this dress is San Francisco and Shams wears it so well. Love everything about it and the way she styled as well.