For Casino Moderne 2012, I once again needed something to wear. As I wasn’t excited by my dress from last year, I decided I wanted something I would be really happy with and not just something to wear. Awhile back I saw a dazzling 1920s dress in
daisyandstella’s Etsy shop that I was absolutely in lust with, but as it was an extra small/small, there was no way I could fit in it. Made with black floral net and gold metallic lace with a silk slip underneath, it was just dreamy. So I set my sights on using that dress as my inspiration for my 1920s dress reproduction.
The original inspiration
After shopping around, I found a lace that I fell in love with. The lace from the inspiration gown was much more sheer and delicate than the one I chose. The paisley Alençon lace I found was dreamy and heavy and had a great hand to it. I couldn’t find a gold lace that I was even remotely happy with, so I decided to use a lovely beaded black lace for the edging of my skirt. Once I purchased the champagne silk charmeuse and some black lace banding, I was good to go.
Building the Dress
Since there isn’t a pattern to perfectly match this dress, I adapted. I used as my base pieces the 1920 dress with flounced skirt from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library.
I used the tunic top of the dress, sans sleeves, as the base for my lace blouson top. The silk slip I made from my usual slip pattern. I had to make it as a bodice and skirt. In that way, I could secure the longer lace tunic to the bottom of the shorter silk slip bodice. This would allow the lace to blouson at the hip and stay in place. I took the skirt pattern and extended the length quite a bit. Once the panels were constructed I graded the length so it was shorter in front and longer in back. The original dress looked like it was a straight panel, but I liked my skirt pattern had less bulk. The last thing I need is more bulk around my hips. I added the lace banding to the silk slip skirt and joined the lace skirt to the silk slip skirt at the top. Once I had the top and bottom of the dress constructed, I joined the two with a silk and lace band. The original dress had a posy of flowers on the center of the band. As my lace edging on my skirt had beads, I decided to make a lace beaded motif as my center accent.
Once it was put together, I was pretty happy with it. I’m too much of a perfectionist to be truly happy with it, but I think it is a lovely piece I was content to wear.
Now to find my 1920s dress reproduction inspiration for next year.
brilliant! I love it!
Your dress looks lovely!
Thank you, ladies!