Tommy III

So the last dress I have to share today is the final dancer. Now this girl posed a challenge for me. She was a LOT taller, and bigger then the other girls. While not a BIG girl, she was the sort that obviously played sports. She was BUILT, almost 6 feet tall and very muscular. Not the typical dancer body I am used to dealing with.

I solved this body problem by creating a two piece ensemble that she could move it. Using the same fabric as the other dresses, i created the garment here. The blouse features a basque, and a top gathered over the breasts. The CF buttons are functioning, as well as a side zipper. I thought that would give her enough room to get it over her head, without messing up her hair/makeup

With this I made an A-Line skirt that moved very beautifully on stage. While being tall, I think it served her and the show well.

Sadly I could not get my hands on an appropriate sized dress form, so it looks a little odd here on a size 4...forgive me!

The Who's Tommy - II

Here is the second dress in the set. As told in my previous post, these dresses were constructed for a local HS in the spring of '09. I chose to make them of a matching Poly satin in different colors. Only 3 of the four survived the run, one barely made it to closing night....stupid girl...

This second dress is the orange one. It featured a "wrap around" bodice and skirt that features a cascade down one side. While the dress was made for a dancer, it and the others were all made from vintage patterns of the period. I have collected patterns for years, and love the chance to use a real source material when doing a period show.

Teens Dress

This is based on a dress that was given me by the TDF Costume Collection here in NYC. It was too bad of repair for them to rent anymore, so I took it. knowing that it was once beautiful and I really liked the silhouette.

Here is a pic of the before dress. It WAS once a very lovely orange patterned silk, with an overlay of organza. The blouse was an overlay of organza on pale peach poly taffeta. To me the coat is the most impressive part of the dress - it has a very Funny Girl feeling to me.

The fabric I chose for my remake of it is left over from a wedding I did a few months ago. I have collected so much fabric over the years that I am trying to use it up and not spend any money - except for zippers and things like that.

The body of the remake is Tiffany Blue double-sided Duchess Satin (say that three times fast) and the blouse is pale blue taffeta. I decided for dramatic flare to accent it with black jet trim. (i have been collecting trim bits for years - and I dont want to move them any more!)

Here is where it stands so far - just about done! Ill post a pic of what it looks like with a body inside soon....