It seems that just about every sewing blogger and her mom has gone gaga over this Michael Kors dress from his Fall 2008 collection, and I am no exception. Styled in rich menswear fabrics, or the most ladylike of floral prints, the dress is a prime example of sophisticated va-va-voom:
And of course, the exciting thing for those of us who are in possession of a pocketful of sewing skills is that this dress is available as a pattern in the form of Vogue 1117:
Hrmm. To be honest, I really don’t like how the dress looks on the Vogue envelope. If not for the fact that I’ve seen the dress in other incarnations, I doubt I’d have looked twice at the pattern. What is going on here? Granted, the model for the Vogue dress does not have a willowy runway model figure, but her figure is lovely nonetheless. I’ve seen the dress photographed on actress Kristin Davis, who is probably closer in size and shape to the envelope model than to the runway model, and it looks lovely on her as well. Could it be that the model’s boyish haircut is not working with the dress? Is it because the dress isn’t shown with a belt? Or is it that the draft of the Vogue pattern is somehow more conservative? I hope it’s not that, because I ordered it anyway. I’m counting on the belt to be the solution.
So, onto another question. It was my first instinct to get a tweed or other such menswear fabric and make this as a dress for work. But I’m realizing that I am in possession of a whole lot of classy little knee-length dresses for work, both purchased and made. And then I discovered this Vera Wang Lavender Label floral brocade from Fabric.com:
What do you think? I found some pictures of the actual Vera Wang Lavender Label dress for which this fabric was used, and the fabric really begs to be pleated and ruched. In that sense, the fabric might be a good fit for that pattern. But I’m still not sure… given that the Vogue pattern looks considerably less “fierce” than the Michael Kors original, and given that I’m not very va-va-voom anatomically to start with, will this floral frock look frumpy and grammy-ish (no offense to grammies!), or will it look sophisticated?
In other words, will it be Mad Men floral dress:
or Queen mum floral dress?
What’s your advice? Yay or nay on the print with the Vogue 1117 pattern?
The Selfish Seamstress 
10 comments
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October 26, 2009 at 2:12 am
missymay
love your new blog! how exciting :) I think the print and the dress pattern will work, maybe if you go for above or on the knee length and definitely a belt. also I totally second your ‘confessions’ – sewing in undies I can totally relate to!
October 26, 2009 at 10:15 am
mollymolly
I agree, I think that dress would look amazing in the floral. I bought the pattern myself… the only problem is having time to make it!
October 26, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Kelley
There’s another option for that dress, if you subscribe to Burda World of Fashion. Kristy made one here http://loweryourpresserfoot.blogspot.com/2009/10/just-in-nick-of-time.html just a couple of days ago, and I loved the result she got. It’s another example in a different fabric….
And about your confessions: you may not have sewed a welt pocket, but you have created your own patterns and so it all evens out! I look forward to reading more!
October 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Angela
I think the floral will be cute! I dont think it will be frumpy at all since it should be more fitted. :)
October 28, 2009 at 9:22 am
jj
I’m sorry, I don’t like these flower prints, they’re too busy for me and the
colors aren’t right, they look like curtain to me. I love the gray one on
model. I think the black tight and little belt are the key.
October 28, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Jessica
I like the idea of a floral dress (love the Mad Men version), however, I don’t like the colors of the Vera Wang floral (like jj said, “curtain”). I think the floral needs a little bit more “pop” to keep it from being too grammy. If just one of the colors in the pattern were deeper, I’d say go with it, but it doesn’t stick out to me (it’s the pink in Betty’s dress that pops – there’s no definition to the Queen mum’s pattern). Also, the Vogue dress is definitely missing the belt – that’s what really gives it the waist definition it needs to be fierce. Ok, that’s my waaaay more than two cents. Love the blog, by the way! So excited to find it!
November 3, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I get new stuff, you get jealous. « The Selfish Seamstress
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November 24, 2009 at 12:46 am
Pamela D
The actual Kors dress, whether plaid or posy, is made in a woven with plenty of lycra.
I think the key to the dress looking good is having a tight waist on a curvy body. The model on the Vogue envelope does not have a large waist/hip ratio. While she is lovely, she does not have a pronounced hip curve. In other words the dress seems to look better on Kristen Davis types – meaning small waist, larger hips. This is good news for most women.
November 29, 2009 at 4:15 pm
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