The Midnight Dress

While it's still labeled as the Midnight Dress, it'll be called Pamina in my head from now on.

Quick Overview

Mid-Polka. "Hop on pop, hop on pop, one fish,
two fish, red fish, blue fish."

Materials:

• Dark blue poly blend satin
• dark blue canvas
• dark blue grosgrain ribbon
• silver plastic medallion trim
• white/silver rhinestone bead trim

Total Time:

About a week.

Drinks:

Not much, actually, I tend to not drink on school nights... and this was executed during a school week. So... strawberries and cream tea from adagio teas

Noise:

Dexter.  So much. Dexter. I'm on season 6 now... I was not when I started. Also Thrilling Adventure Hour because yesssssss

Final notes:

The dress went by relatively quickly, between having a simple gathered skirt and not having to fit the bodice for my weirdly short torso this was a faster process. I think this is really my first personal design that's become a dress. (The Gold Belle Gown doesn't really count because someone had designed it for me, my job was translating animation into design and billions of people had already done that.) 

I forgot to get a full body picture close enough to see
the shoulder treatment

I wonder if this is how designers feel when they see their shit finished. The satin was tricky to work with for a couple of reasons, mainly it was somewhat easy to manipulate until it wasn't and deceptively thick. The dress ultimately ended up being a little too big with a wee bit of puckering at the chest where I cut the center front just  a bit too curved (chests don't apparently work that way when corseted-ish.) I'm not sure if the dress being too big was a result of me fitting it incorrectly or me losing weight after the belle dress. I'm hoping it was the latter but I'll still have to take the damn thing in. I was afraid that the trim would be far too costumey and in the end, they sort of did, but that aside, it went over well. Even with a farthingale (a kind of narrow renaissance hoop-skirt-ey thing) underneath the dress, the dress was still a bit too long. I tripped a bit on my hem trying to dance and look down and I managed to slip in my heels once but nothing too heartbreaking. Also why do I keep doing outfits with satin gloves? I can't text in them, I can't hold cold things because the perspiration gets on them and then they're wet and satiney and weird.  But DAMN do they feel cool.

I did solve the high friction problem on my shoes by sticking
duct tape to the soles... I also forgot a nice shawl/coat so nautical utility bag
and Power Plant hoodie it is. I didn't realize how high up my leg was at the time.

Fairy God-Sister and I took a bunch of prom photos

 

and twirly photos. I love twirly photos.

The satin was great and floaty. When we were headed out to the car we had to head down a few steep sets of stairs but the dress supposedly floated nicely behind me. I never got to really see the dress in action except for the twirly photos which is a bit of a shame considering it's very short lifespan (more on this later.) My original plan for my hair didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but that was easily solved with a quick braided bun. 

And that quickly brings me to my next topic:

An almost foolproof way to get accessories that match your outfit

When it comes to spangly dresses like this one, jewelry can be an issue. Thankfully, I was able to come up with remarkably clever solution. 

I had a lot of the trim left over after the dress was done and I noticed after cutting it up, I got some pretty nice pieces. So naturally I did what anyone would do... I stuck them all over my face pretending they were dermals. (I don't have picture of this. I should have.)

I did apply a seashell to my face...

Anyway, it occurred to me, I could also just turn them into earrings which was smart considering it was looking a little naked without some jewelry. With the application of some eyelash glue (clear preferably) even you can have perfectly matching accessories.

to be fair, this really only works if you have trim that can be cut up like this.

The stick-ons stayed all night and were actually somewhat uncomfortable to remove, the glue I used was REALLY STICKY. They held up through dancing, sweating, hair-styling and I'm sure, a few satin-gloved swipes to the face and head because I'm a nervous hair-fiddler. The other spare trim got turned into a headband.

I really can't be held responsible for these faces. Although this one
is remarkably similar to that of a friend's trademark adorable/crazyface

Anywhoozle, fun night, pretty simple project. I definitely paid for the simplicity with a somewhat ill-fitting dress but I still feel like a pretty proud mama with my first personal design becoming a real thing... Even if I didn't drape anything. Maybe next time. there are still some designs in a sketchbook, waiting to be done.

there really isn't much better of a feeling than taking a super structured dress
off at the end of the night. 

Next time: the untimely death of the Midnight Dress and a study in alterations.