Michelle, my belle

Be still my beating heart!
I recently saw this picture of the beautiful Michelle Williams wearing a red lace dress by Erdem at the 54th Annual Times BFI London Film Festival "Conviction permiere. My instant reaction was that of delight and envy! It's bold, it's classy, it's refreshingly different. So naturally fashion reviews are either raving or scathing; there's just no pleasing everyone. I love a debated opinion, that's what makes fashion so interesting, the diversity of tastes and ideas!

Well I am definitely in the 'love it' category (did you notice the animal print shoes??!!) and so I started obsessing over how I could make my own version of this dress. I purchased some red lace from clegs and picked up Vogue pattern #V1230.

Ok, so I know this dress doesn't look much like Michelle Williams, but I wanted to imitate the pleats around the neckline of her red lace dress, and thought this pattern would do the trick. I also like the slightly lower neckline.

So here's my version ...

I drafted my own sleeves and cut a massive rectangle out for the skirt with just one seam at the centre back. I then gathered the skirt to fit the circumference of the waist and a dress is born.

I love this red tule and how pretty the scalloped edges are. This was my first time sewing with lace and I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of use. One word of advice to anyone thinking of giving lace a go: Lace is pretty see-through! If there are any parts of the dress that you don't want to be transparent, or you don't want to see the exposed seams of the lining on the underneath, make sure you interline the lace in those sections. I interlined and lined the bodice, but kept the sleeves unlined for extra effect.

I'm really happy with how this dress turned out, and I suspect it cost a wee-bit less than Miss Williams version.