Simone was the second of the German exchange students I found at Centrepoint.

Her dress couldn’t have been more different from Katarina’s.  I thought the dress was much more appropriate for a woman than a young girl [Angelina Jolie could rock this dress] and that was before she showed me the fabric combination!  The dress is 100% silk charmeuse with a nylon lace overlay and ruffle.  It is partially lined in acetate satin.

The dress pattern required significent modification.  Simone had a magnificent figure, tiny waist, proportioned hips and a dramatic DD bust.  I don’t think I would ever make, or recommend, this dress for a bigger than [pattern] average bust again.  The bodice stay is made from 4 separate sections but the lining is only one piece.  Getting the shape and fit right for a more substantial bust required significantly more fittings than usual.  Then the draping had to be attacked.  Additionally, Simone was very conscious of her bust so the decollete had to be raised which meant remodelling the shape of the cups.  Resizing and reshaping meant a lingerie guard had to be added to the neck edge to ensure there was no gaping on the night.

The pattern was further modified to Simone’s vision of her dream dress by omitting the top stitching on the midriff from the pattern and, instead, placing a lace overlay.  Simone wanted to draw attention to her very slim waist.  [I think that the contrast of the black lace may also have drawn extra attention to the bust area – which may not be desirable].  The pattern does not call for lining of the skirt but, wanting to make the beautiful draping as luxurious as possible, I underlined it in the acetate.  The lace ruffling at the fishtail was an addition Simone particularly wanted.  Simone also wanted to use both sides of the fabric so the bodice and skirt were constructed using the matte side of the fabric while the midriff stay and fishtail use the lustrous side.

Further comments on the pattern: horsehair canvas is called for to line the bodice – I did not find this necessary (but this may not be true for a smaller bust); the point at centre front midriff would be sharper (per the pattern) but we had to modify the proportions of the centre midriff section and it changed the angle of the bottom; the draped skirt goes together beautifully; the back of the fishtail does not fit the back of the skirt and needs to be adjusted up towards the zipper; the pattern says floor length but there is actually a small train (smaller when you make the above adjustment) – its gorgeous but, again, for a young girl a bit difficult to manage.  I did talk her into keeping the train in the end! 

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