Evening Drama from Bellville Sassoon: Vogue 1616

Even thought most of us, most of the time, have nowhere to wear anything so dramatic, I always enjoy pondering such patterns anyway, especially near the holiday season when so many formal events take place. Lorcan Mullany created this one for Bellville Sassoon.

This one-shoulder dress plays off of informal balance, but not so much side to side as front to back. The body of the dress is made in a crepe or velvet, while the contrast is a sheer chiffon or a glowing charmeuse. The contrast sweep over one shoulder and then cascades down only to be caught at the waistline, then it flare and flows out down to the ground in a train. The drape is hemmed narrowly and very effectively in chiffon here, and you can see how it would float behind with movement. The little black and white you spot here at the waistline is actually beaded trim. 

The bodice fits closely and is boned which is always necessary when you are defining gravity by not suspending a garment from both shoulders. Interfacing too gives shape to the bodice which has an invisible zipper on the side. Although the black makes it impossible to see, princess seams front and back make it easier to fit the dress to the wearer, then the skirt flares out below the knee and in the back it becomes a train as well.

The Dress Doctors would dub this a dress for the sophisticated woman over thirty, who moves with measured grace and thus can handle the complications of such a garment. They believed the energy of youth made younger women too impatient to deal with a train, much less a floor-length drape. In fact, any older woman without the patience would be better off with a striking, but more simply cut gown.