Friday, January 27, 2012

I have loved this dress


since forever.

Why have I never attempted a knockoff?  It's a simple enough shape; it's just getting the colors right and the lines crisp. 

Oh, is that all?

I have 5-6 dresses in my inspiration file that have been there so long that they've become part of my mental furniture.  Maybe it's time to rearrange the furniture and drag these out into the cold light of day and see how they hold up.

It's not like I'm ever short of a project, but some of these dresses deserve to be made, and other dresses need to take their place in the Inspiration Closet of Doom.

Fine, there it is.  My next Great Dress challenge for 2012 will be to knock off the iconic YSL Mondrian dress, and see if it's still a Great Dress when I'm done with it.

Can I do it in my colors?  Is the shape and the colorblocking iconic enough that if I did it in something other than those colors, people would still understand what I was doing? 

And so long as I like the result, do I really care?

11 comments:

SueC56 said...

Karen,

Have you seen this blog, another Mondrian dress. I thought you might enjoy seeing what someone else went through and how nicely it turned out!

Blog: ThereSheSews
Author: Welmoed

http://thereshesews.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-project-ysl-mondrian-dress.html

http://thereshesews.blogspot.com/2010/04/ysl-mondrian-dress-finished.html

SueC56

SuesSewingStudio.blogspot.com

BeccaA said...

I love this dress and have been wanting to make a knock off of it for years. I can't wait to see what you do with this design!

Summer Flies said...

I too have loved that dress ... CarmencitaB also made not one, but two of these dresses and I think that was her first blogpost. (they were floor length- one option on the ysl pattern).
I will be interested to see your process and the final dress.

Sewingelle said...

This sewist has loved it forever too. It would look great in other colours too, I think

CarmencitaB said...

I did sew it twice and if you have any questions, I'll gladly answer them. It's a beautifully constructed pattern, very clever bust dart placement.
http://www.carmencitab.com/2010/03/vogue-paris-original-1557.html

annie said...

Yes, I love it too. Have been on the hawk for the pattern just for the directions as I understand the black bands are applied, not inserted. But they are waaaaaay out of my price range. Any sort of no-waist sheath or "sack" could be pressed into service otherwise, I guess. I'd have to put sleeves on mine but there is a version w/ long sleeves. I'll be watching your blog with enormous interest. Good luck with it.

Welmoed Sisson said...

Annie, the black bands ARE inserted, not just applied. I had a lot of fun making the dress myself (SueC56 gave the link in her comment). The real tricky part is the dart rotation. The main pattern pieces may look like rectangles, but they're not. Once I could wrap my head around the dart issue, drafting the pieces wasn't too complicated.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Well Karen you've committed yourself now and all of us inquiring minds want to see the finished garments. I think this is a treasured dress by many sewists, myself included, so can't wait to read your process and see your finished dress.

Clio said...

Color blocking is so hot right now that I'm sure this classic will look modern and stunning in whatever colors your heart desires! Go for it!

SEWN said...

OMG!!!! Now I am absolutely convinced that we are twins separated at birth. I have always wanted to make that dress too!!!!

Bootzey said...

This is the dress that turned me from a tomboy into a girly girl.