Actually this dress did not turn out ruffly but I could not resist the title - I made it for a weekend visit to Singapore which included a dinner at Raffles Hotel, a lovely old colonial relic and the backdrop for these photos.
Simple silk dresses have served me well this summer so I decided to make one last one before switching to fall sewing. This dress began life as McCalls 5977, a top pattern which I extended to dress length. I didn't have enough fabric for the sleeve ruffles on view D (the green one below) so I drafted my own and made a tie belt.
I know the shoes don't go at all, but I was travelling light!
The fabric is a piece of silk with some stretch that I picked up at Metro Textiles in New York. When I prewashed it the black in the print ran a bit so this gave me the courage to experiment patternwise, however I washed it again when it was finished and it came out perfect.
Dinner was fantastic, both the food and the service - they even gave me this miniature chair to put my handbag on!
It's a lovely dress and the fabric is divine.
ReplyDeleteOh, how lovely! Looks like an easy dress to wear.
ReplyDeleteYour dress looks gorgeous! The lush backdrop is nice too. It's a beautiful piece of fabric. Did you buy it in HKG or NYC?
ReplyDeleteI remember getting very drunk at an important business dinner in my 20s at the Raffles hotel on Singapore Slings. After crying to my mother, her advice was to stick with brown, non sweet drinks (eg whisky neat, etc.) when out for business reasons!
simple silk dresses do work for you, this is beautiful, I hear you on the shoes, I love to have the right one for the outfit, but if you didn't say anything I wouldn't have noticed.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful silk dress. Love The Raffles!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful dress and what a great idea to extend a top to dress length (I must try this some time). The fabric is really nice - Kashi, at Metro Textiles, has some lovely fabrics! How wonderful to go to Raffles - and I think this dress is just right for such a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very pretty dress, and the backdrop is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteYou really inspired me this summer with your silk dresses. It's why I loaded up in Shanghai! LOVE the little chair for your purse. I would have kept cracking up.
ReplyDeleteYet another beautiful dress and the backdrop is stunning. You always travel to the best places! I love the idea of the purse chair --- very clever!
ReplyDeleteLovely dress and such an amazing backdrop!
ReplyDeleteAll so pretty and perfect!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the pieces you got at Metro made up into actual garments. It takes me much longer to sew the fabric from my jaunts. I'm loving the dress and don't mind the shoes at all!
ReplyDeleteWonderful dress in such a great setting. Raffles, just the name conjures up images from old movies, glamour and romance, perhaps some espionage as well.
ReplyDeleteoh, where do I begin? I love the fabric. It looks perfect made up as a dress. Your shoes look wonderful to me- so I am not sure why you don't like them. They are neutral and make your legs look long and graceful. Oh, I like your white watch, too. It's nice to see a white watch on someone because I've had a hankering for a white watch. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteGreat dress - lovely setting - and my! that cute little chair!!
ReplyDeleteLucky you! Sounds like a great weekend :) Lovely dress and the shoes are just fine!
ReplyDeleteThat looks fantastic as a dress! And what a wonderful setting. I love those old colonial relics! I once stayed in the Baron Hotel in Aleppo...simply because it was where Agatha Christie and T. E. Lawrence had stayed.
ReplyDeleteI love it, looks great you didn't need the ruffles, you did an excellent job and ya gotta love the little things (i.e. the chair for your purse)
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I've also stopped by to tell ya I've moved my blog to a new addy and re-following you hope you will refollow too:
http://slipstitchesandmore.blogspot.com
Love it. Looks great as a dress.
ReplyDeleteOh please. This is such a great post. The dress and how you travel is just great. Raffles is a great spot for anything - a drink, high tea or dinner. I'm glad you had a great weekend.
ReplyDeletePerfect dress for pink gins on the verandah at Raffles.
ReplyDeleteFabulous dress and fabulous setting ... of course I'm biased, being from Singapore :-))
ReplyDeleteIf you ever need any local insights about fabric shopping (or anything else, really) in Singapore, I'm happy to help out any time.
Another beautiful silk dress. You are certainly queen of these. But I am wondering - how do you know when you can successfully wash silk? The ones I buy always instruct to dry clean only. It would certainly be more convenient if I could throw them in the washer or even hand wash in the sink.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful dress! You look fantastic in it as usual! :) The little chair is too cute.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! And I don't mind the shoes with it at all.
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