Ready-to-Wear Inspiration

So when I was researching images for the Weekend Designer ruffle sleeve blouse to make out of the silk georgette I ordered from FFC, I went to the Bloomingdale's website to grab the Lauren pics. While I was there I decided to browse around.

You all know my love for knit dresses, and on the Bloomingdale's website you can sort the dresses by fabric category, including jersey. Score! I found a lot to inspire me. You can click on any of the photos to see them full size.

I like that this is demure and Audrey Hepburn in the front with the exposed back. I'm not necessarily wild about the plain wide straps--I think I'd prefer a U or a V back situation. One of my friends wore a low-back dress to happy hour a while back and it was so sexy. Now that my back is cleared up (cross fingers it stays!) after a round of dermatological antibiotics I am interested in incorporating the open back into a project.







Ditto the open back on this. I love how it looks like a regular sun dress from the front, and then the back is strappy and fun. It might be a tad too young/trashy for me, although the model looks fairly elegant in it, considering. Alas, I am not a model.





This one is probably my favorite of the bunch, partly because I can't figure it out! Looking at the closeup, you can see that the belt is in two pieces, the end of the front crossover sewn to one end and the belt that crosses the back sewn to the other. Unfortunately, there is no side view of this. I'm wondering if it is just a regular mock wrap, and the belt attached to the side of the bodice that crosses under passes through an opening in the side seam. Or perhaps it's just sewn into the side seam? That doesn't account for the drape on the outer front crossover piece, though, which doesn't appear to have a seam. I just got word from Elizabeth that she found me some avocado silk jersey for a STEAL. I'm thinking I may need to try this dress, using Simplicity 3503 as a starting point.






This Ladera Ashley has a similar sort of drapey cut on sleeve situation going on, but with a much simpler (aka easier) design. I like that the gathering is concentrated at CF and CB, rather than distributed over the hips.





LOVE this Laundry by Shelli Segal dress:


I imagine the photo quality isn't good in this post (even Bloomingdale's ain't great at photographing details in navy), but if you click on the detail, you can see there are radiating diagonal pleats. Based on the closeup of the back, where the belt is in a slightly different position, it appears that there is no waist seam, which makes the pleats even more amazing because it means they are in some sort of chevron arrangement. It's got a bit of the flavor of the Martin Grant dress that amazed me so much last season.




As soon as I saw who had designed this one, I understood why I loved it so much. DVF is the queen of taking advantage of the gorgeous drape you get with jersey. Again, the black hides the details but if you look at the front closeup you see how the skirt drape is gathered on the side opposite the one shoulder, then dips down, then there is a smaller gather under the one shoulder. Amazing, but I would need a lot more experience draping to figure this out.







I don't generally go to clothing websites because, well, I make my own. But maybe I'll do it more often for inspiration! You can see all the looks that caught my eye here.