My rendition of Simplicity 2473 is almost done! As you can see here, it’s not an exact replica of the L’Wren Scott Headmistress Dress, but more of a L’Wren-Scott-flavored dress.

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All that it needs now is to have the zipper installed and the hem sewn (you can see the pins are still in it). And that should be about it. The black fabric is a Sophia double knit from Fabric.com (polyester, rayon, and Lycra, I think).  For the white contrast, I wanted to use the same fabric, but they didn’t have it in white, so I bought some of their 100% polyester ponte di roma.  The Sophia knit is pretty nice, but I really don’t recommend the ponte di roma.  I’ve never worked with ponte di roma before so I don’t know if this is just how the fabric is, or if it’s just the particular stuff I got, or if it’s the white in particular, but it’s pretty vile.  It looks like something you’d see in a hospital for bandaging.  It looks and feels cheap, and I certainly wouldn’t want to wear it directly against my skin. If I find a better substantial white knit, I may replace the cuffs and collar eventually.

Once I’m done, I’m thinking I’ll make a Simplicity 2473 “expansion kit” available.  That is to say, I’ll post the pattern pieces I drafted for the collar, sleeves, and cuffs, all of which I did from scratch, plus instructions on how to add them to the dress. Obviously I can’t post the whole dress pattern because of copyright issues, but this way if you have (or buy) Simplicity 2473, you can download my additions to make your own L’Wren Scott inspired version.

Oh, and by the way, a little Selfish Seamstress ego trip to the cashier:

Retail price for the L’Wren Scott original Headmistress Dress: $2895.00
Total cost for Selfish Seamstress version (including pattern): about $21.00

Booyah. 

(Of course, L’Wren Scott’s probably doesn’t have a nasty polyester collar.)

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