Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing: prom dress

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Charlotte, who is making her own prom dress and needs some sewing advice. I confess that I love getting this type of e-mail; it makes me feel like the prom dress fairy godmother. (Wouldn't it be fun to teach a prom dress class over a semester or two? What times we'd have--fitting, sewing, talking about boys! But I digress.)

Charlotte wants to replicate details from the Atelier Versace gown seen on Anne Hathaway (above), making it a knee-length look. She's feeling confident on the strapless bodice but doesn't know how to construct the ruffles. Here's a detail shot of the dress on the lovely Emma Watson. (Click to supersize.)

Here's my theory: I think the ruffles appear to be a series of cascading flounces. This type of flounce is cut in a spiral. Like below, but the line would continue around as large as you want in a spiral.

{source: Threads Magazine #112}

And then when sewn in vertical lines, they "cascade" or zigzag down the length of a skirt. The Versace looks to be a dramatic take on the ruffle pencil skirts that were everywhere last year.

{source}

Here they are on a gown, but sewn in straight lines rather than grouped together like the Versace gown.

It looks like Versace used a combination of fabrics and colors to create the wave-like effect of the gown. I'm seeing some tulle, organza, and perhaps some crepe and chiffon? in shades of ivory, pale greyish lavender, and seafoam. Some of the flounces look like they have a narrow rolled hem, others appear to be self-faced (like the organza), and the tulle is simply trimmed and left raw.

On the other side of the gown, it looks like the flounces are arranged into pseudo-rosette shapes.

I think Charlotte could replicate the effect by making several casades in three different fabrics and colors, finishing the edges if needed, and then stacking them on top of each other in sets. Then they would be hand-stitched to the skirt of her dress, making a zigzag line down to the hem. I think the fun in designing the dress would be deciding how to group the cascades and where to position them.