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Every year, there are events held in honor of the US Navy’s birthday. They’re big to-do’s, from what I’ve been told, and this year is the first time I’ll be attending one! I’m really excited, although I don’t know if it’s because I’m going to a very grown-up event, or because I get to wear a really fancy gown! lol. I’ve been toying with various ideas for my gown for the ball for months. First I was convinced I wanted to make something drapey and evocative of the late 30s or 40s. But as time wore on, I realized I didn’t quite have the budget for the silk charmeuse dress I had envisioned (nor could I find fabric I liked). Not to mention I tend to feel a bit more comfortable in things with more structure, rather than those relying solely on me having a “good body day”. haha!
At the end of August, my Sailor Husband reminded me that the ball is fast approaching and I was still waffling on my dress. I went rummaging in my fabric stash and found a generous length of a taffeta material I picked up when I was a teenager. Yes, I’ve had it for at least 5 years! lol. It’s a beautiful, deep blue with a black raised pattern. It’s got a scallop border design, although the fabric edge isn’t scalloped. While I could have made a fabulously full skirted number, I wanted something a bit more spare. After many sketches (everything from a full skirt gown to designs that look like something Marilyn would have worn), I remembered that one of my dreams has been to make a dress inspired by the gown Audrey Hepburn wears in Sabrina after coming back from Paris. It’s a gorgeous, Givenchy designed number, and has caught my imagination and symbolized sophisticated glamor since I first watched the movie. Although I don’t claim that my dress will be even 1/10 as beautiful, I knew that I had finally hit on the style that suited my personality!
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The beautiful blue taffeta will comprise the train of the dress. It’s designed to be detachable so I can take it off going to and from the event, so as not to crush it while sitting in the car. The dress itself, a simple strapless sheath, will be made of a black evening fabric. (I originally wanted a light colored dress for the ball, since Sailor Husband will be in his dress whites, but alas, a girl can only have so many wishes fulfilled! lol) I’m toying with the idea of fashioning the bodice as such so that the front bustline peels away to expose a pleated piece of the train fabric; a way to make the entire gown cohesive. I’m hoping to also add some beading and sequins to the train to add some sparkle and interest. The train will fasten to the dress at the back with hooks and eyes, and be covered with a belt made from the dress material. I’m thinking silver accessories and shoes with this one…
I’ve just started the muslin and fitting process with this. For the pattern pieces, I decided to make it easy on my self and use some existing, vintage patterns and patch them together. The skirt is a pencil skirt from a 50s suit pattern (ironically I bought this particular pattern because the suit kind of reminded me of the one Audrey wears in the film while she’s waiting at the train station!). The bodice will be from the pattern I used for the blue sundress earlier this year. It’ll be boned and have both an underling and lining. I think because of the climate factor, the skirt will only be partially lined, although I haven’t full made up my mind yet. The train pattern I’ll free-form. I have enough taffeta to use for the entire train. I just haven’t decided how I’m going to seam it (one center back seam, hidden on the inside, or two side seams?) or if I’m going to try and hem the bottom so that it creates a scallop much like the border design.
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My apologies that this post is so long, and if you’ve gotten this far you’re a real trooper! hehe! I’m just so excited about this particular project. I have dreamed of making a ball-worthy gown for years, but it was highly impractical since my lifestyle didn’t have any opportunities for wearing such glamorous gowns. Now I know I have at least one, yearly event that will require something fabulous! I’ll keep you all posted as I progress with this. If anyone is interested, I’ll update with some more technical posts that show the construction steps in a bit more detail than I normally do. I just don’t want to overwhelm everyone with my sewing geekiness!
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This is a beautiful idea!
If you want another pattern to work from, I’d suggest the vintage vogue reprint, V2239. They no longer print it, but many ebay shops and so forth have it. Here’s what it looks like:
http://www.voguepatterns.com/item/V2239.htm?tab=out_of_print/vintage_vogue&page=1
I made this for a prom gown in high school. The bust structure is really sturdy and is a beautiful shape. I’m also a sucker for long sashes.
Oh, Casey, I can’t wait to see this finished! I love Audrey, not only because I share her name, but just her overall elegance and timeless beauty! I always loved attending our military balls too, unfortunately, I had to wear my uniform since I was the one serving!
Oh, my goodness, the dress from Sabrina has to be my favorite dress of all time!
I certainly wish that I had the sewing skills and design skills to try to make my own version because it’s such a gorgeous, gorgeous gown! I love the sketch of yours and the fabric, I can’t wait to see your gown. And I’m positive that it will be a lot closer than 1/10 as beautiful, you do fabulous work!
Oh my goodness! What a lovely dress to recreate!
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Oh my, i can’t wait to see the your creation! Gorgeous idea!
Oh, Casey, I cannot WAIT to see your creation. And to see it ON you … you’d best post lots and lots of photos if you know what’s good for ya.
A formal ball–how exciting!!! I am just in awe of your creativity and skill. The ability to put a dress together from scratch like this represents rare talent and I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Oh I am so excited for you! I just saw the movie with her and absolutely loved it! I wish you the best results!
It sounds absolutely beautiful! Cannot wait to see how it turns out
Oh don’t apologize for the length – this is a wonderful post!
I love that you’re going to a ball – and that we’ll get to see photos of the dress (and maybe the ball itself?) Somehow you always seem to create this pocket of old-fashioned wonderfulness in the midst of a modern life, which is so inspiring.
I also love that you flagged the need for dress structure. I’ve recently realized that structured clothing does half the work for you when you’re trying to evoke vintage. (Alas, cotton jersey, no matter how beautifully cut, rarely makes the same impact, and any bit of diaphanous froth is only as era-friendly as the vintage structured base it rests on.)
I can’t wait to see your version of Sabrina!
That’s a gorgeous dress and will definitely be a fascinating project to follow!
Ah I love the Sabrina dress! The inspiration sounds perfect for you, and I really can’t wait to see the final results. Good luck with the sewing!
Did you say “if” anyone was interested, you’d share construction details? Umm…me!
I think your idea is simply fabulous…and I really like the idea of a pleated inset of your train fabric on the bodice.
::sigh:: I always had fun going to babysit people’s kids for the military balls and seeing all the ladies in their fancy dresses, but I never did get to go myself…
Please do blog about the details!!
Ooh that dress is going to be fabulous!!! Promise you’ll post lots of pictures along the way of creating it as well as when it’s finally presented to the world! That fabric is so luscious!!!!
I look forward to seeing the finished dress! How exciting to have a special occasion to go to!
Oh wow, this dress is gonna be so beautiful, can’t wait to see the result, good luck!
I cannot wait to see how your design turns out! Your creations are always so fabulous!
What a lovely dress! Navy with black is such a chic color combo! One of the nice features of your dress design is that the “underdress” is such a simple, classic style. It might be nice to keep it all in black so you could modify it for future events. I can see the basic black dress working for a fancy dinner, a night out, New Year’s, etc. You could make it look totally different by adding a different skirt, a lace overlay, a bolero, etc. If there’s a way to make the contrast on the bust removable (for example, attaching it with snaps), that might give you the best of both worlds. I’ve been thinking a lot about making my wardrobe more versatile, and I guess it’s showing!!
Definitely keep us up-to-date on all aspects of this! It sounds like an amazing project, and I’m sure the final project will be a killer piece. I love seeing the fabric in comparison with the original inspiration… they complement each other beautifully!
Casey – this dress is going to be gorgeous. Please post pics when you have it finished!
Also, I love that suit pattern. Can you please tell me which pattern it is?
I’ve been reading this blog for a while, but I’m not very good commenter, but once I read this I knew I had to reply. I designed my junior prom dress after this dress. I spent nearly two months on it. I draped my pattern, and being a beginner draper at that time I made quite a few fitting mistakes, I ended up finding the Vera Wang Vogue Pattern that was basically this dress and used it. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vera-Wang-Bridal-Gown-and-Overskirt-Vogue-Pattern_W0QQitemZ290333097183QQcmdZViewItem
Okay, a few words of advice, I don’t know if you thought of it, but use some tulle inside of the detachable skirt to give it some volume. What I did was inside of the skirt create almost like tulle ruffles around 5 inches and layered them underneath each other, this create volume without bulk, and since you have a heavy weight fabric (I’m assuming) the layering won’t show though. This is a biggie: make sure the train isn’t long because I made mine with a little sweep in the back like the original, and though it was beautiful, BUT everyone kept stepping on it and soon parts of the skirt was ripping of the belt at the end of the night. It was a little sad when I was being held together by safety pins. I ended up taking off the skirt and stuffing it under our table. People were feeling the big tulle mess under their feet the whole night.
man alive, Casey! this will be so beautiful! that taffeta looks really vintage and lovely.. and anything modeled after Audrey Hepburn (and I think Sabrina is my favorite movie of hers, you can’t lose with Billy Wilder!!) will be gorgeous.
please please post more details about this dress as you make it! I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
How perfect! I happen to be a HUGE Audrey fan so anything having her style in it is right on! A friend of mine is getting married soon and she is getting her wedding dress styled after this one. Such a lovely idea!
God bless!
I am really excited to see how this project will turn out! I love posts about the design process and taking an idea and turning it into something real, so don’t apologize for long posts ever. Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress and a style icon so this is so interesting!
Sabrina is one of my all-time favorite movies!! I am so excited to see how your dress comes out!!! I’m sure it will absolutely marvelous! Best wishes on the sewing =)
Oh, Casey, you will loock stunning in that dress you describes!
I bet it will be amazing! It’s so rare to get a chance to dress up so fancy!
I am thrilled for you and excited to hear about the construction / progress details! How lucky you are to have a chance (excuse?) to make such a dress. I hope you get to the beading; I think that will really add glamour.
I’m so excited for you, Casey! I wish you the best of luck on the dress. Your plans sound promising, and I can’t wait to see the finished product. I think you’re very lucky to have the chance to attend an annual ball.
WOW that sounds fantastic! I can’t wait to see it! Good luck!
I don’t know if someone has already written about this but how about the belt goes through the top of the train (like a casing?) and therefore not all of the weight is held by those snaps which might over time (or when your’re sitting) damage the dress? I posted an example of a Philip Lim dress that used this technique. If you’re interested I’ll try to find the back view again and send it to you.
I also posted some links to information on this very dress a while ago here. I also found this incredibly-detailed breakdown of the dress at http://www.kartanonrouva.net/couture/ressabrinabw.shtml. Good luck!
Ohh I am in a dreamy state of wonderful. You are so lucky to have such an event to go to! The fabric is wonderful, lovely, gorgeous. I love it. I was reading your post and just about holding my breath! I was having a hard time reading it I was so excited! It made me squeal with delight
I also love Sabrina. Especially the song La vie en rose. I hope the making of it goes well! I will be checking back! Have fun!!
One of my favorite movies! Looking forward to seeing your progress, and happy sewing!
-Erin
Casey!! The design and fabric are so, so beautiful, I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Definitely keep us updated with your progress and process as much as you can.
Where’s my Air Force ball so I can dress up?? 
I am just completely amazed by you, once again:) Please, please, post every bit of the construction process, as I am sure I am not the only one dying to see your every step!
I am SO excited to see this dress. I’m envious of your imagination and sense of style that you can dream this up, and then make it happen.
Casey, you are phenomenally talented! I can fully imagine this dress, and the dress on you, and I predict it will be perfect
You should custom make ballgowns as a business!
wow, this is going to be amazing! I can’t wait to read more about it
please! Share your lovely sewing geekiness with us! I’m so impressed by your handmade cloths. You’re so talented. I can’t wait to see your piece of work! lisa
You are going to look gorgeous! I can’t wait to see the finished result!
I am in awe. Seriously can’t wait to see the finished product! Your sewing entries always inspire me to get out my vintage Singer and have a go at creating! x
i’d love to see it when you have it finished! I envy your so called “sewing geekiness” my bridesmaids dresses were all hand maid and so was my sister in laws dress (i didn’t do any of it but both were my ideas) …remind me to share them sometime.
More sewing geeky-ness please please please! I love it and can’t wait to see!
The long posts are my favorite!!! I honestly can’t wait to see this finished, and I think that it would be really neat if you kept us all abreast on the progress!
May we say “inspired talent alert”? You are amazing, Casey! Thank you for posting – it gives impossible seamstresses like me happy little thrills of delight to participate in reading about your adventures!
Oh that sounds wonderfully elegant! I can’t wait to see the finished result and the steps in between. I’m so excited for you!
Wow! What an awful lot of work! I’m sure it will all pay off though as you will look so amazing, and that fabric is just beautiful and will make your eyes sparkle! I’m looking forward to the construction posts, I’m always interested to learn from others sewing expertise!
I’m so impatient to see it worn ! You’re going to be splendid ! Great choice of style, Audrey’s dress is probably her most beautiful and most spectacular, it’s perfect for a ball. Good luck !
Looks like you have had some excellent advice in the comments! I know you will look beautiful in the finished dress and that the Ball will be one you will remember forever.
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