#silksatin

The Sweeping Ball Gown, Vogue 1963 

This glamorous strapless evening gown dates to 1948 that has been re-issued by Vogue Patterns in modern sizes. It shows all of the luxury of post-war prosperity that one hoped for from post-war prosperity. Just a year earlier, Christian Dior had shown the New Look which offered up day dresses with enormous width at the low hemlines, cinched waists, and soft shoulders. It was a break from the more practical looks of the war years, with hemlines around the knee and padded shoulders, and narrower skirts. This was a silhouette which would live on into the 1950s.

Evening gowns followed suit with even wider hemlines, and here you have one that is more than 7 feet around . To create the mass of the skirt, hold it away from the body, and  make the waist look even tinier, crinoline net is used underneath as interfacing, some 3 plus yards of it. An overskirt cascades down the sides, a feature that will ripple with the wearer's movement. Such an abundance of skirts means that the dress takes around 8 yards of fabric at 60” width. Yes, that is a lot of fabric.

The bodice, which is boned on the inside, is also cuffed on the outside, with a clever shaping so that the front points inward and upwards towards the face. A graceful line and a dynamic one that indicates movement and energy. 

They recommend faille, satin, dupioni, and taffeta, plus brocade, but brocade will probably weigh too much. Satin is beautiful but you can mar it so easily, or at least I can, so I would recommend silk dupioni or shantung whose texture will wear better and catch the light in interesting ways too. And there are soooo many gorgeous colors to choose from. They do suggest that overskirt may be made of a different fabric and the illustration of the back of the dress done in white hints at that. If you look closely, you will see a more textured fabric at the lower left, a lace perhaps? But a harmonizing color might work too. So many possibilities. 

This bodice will need a close fit, so you may want to muslin it in a test fabric. Although it may be possible to use the fitting of the lining to ensure the fit of the fashion fabric. Obviously, with so much fabric on the line, you want to make sure it is something you love. If you have to buy fabric online, I would indulge and buy more fabric than a tiny swatches to make sure.