Variations on the easiest dress in the world

I remember having an epiphany about clothing manufacturers back when I was in high school. Many manufacturers kept re-making the same shape over and over again in different fabrics. Now that I know a bit more about the manufacturing process, economically that makes a whole lot of sense. Perfecting a pattern is expensive business.

I often repeat the same dress shape over and over again. For me it isn’t a matter of economics. Once I get a shape that works, it’s nice to play with the possibilities of what it can be. Also if you are a bit of a lazy dress maker, like I am it becomes possible to cut out a garment without a whole lot of pre-planning or thinking.

I do however cut differently depending on the fabric that I’m using.

This red dress is made out of a heavy weight stable knit that isn’t very stretchy. It was cut with a bit of negative ease. ( the 1/4 width of fabric was 1.5 inches smaller than my hip measurement)

I cut this back version out of the sort of stretchy heavy poly twill that work pants are made out of. This dress was cut only a smidge smaller than my hips. I will probably wear it belted.

These dresses are not technically all that tricky. they are shaped tubes with armholes. They work because they fit my body and the fabrics are married well to the design.

Shows like Project Runway can lead one to think that a good dress is a complicated one. The reality is that the dresses that women wear to death are simple and can be worn in a variety of ways in a wide range of settings. Mostly women don’t need show stopper dresses, they need clothes that they can wear over and feel good in those garments no matter how often they wear them.

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sarah in nyc

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