My next entry in the Gold Thimble Fashion show is for the After Five Cocktail Dress category. The color theme was black, silver, and gold (although I don’t think this was strictly adhered to) and the length needed to be at least 21 inches below the waist.

Since I’ve been enamored of the Roaring 20′s as of late, I decided to take a page from the flapper era and update it.

What I found tricky was finding the right embroidered overlay fabric. Geometric patterns were uncommon, what I found mostly was flowery embroidered designs – which could read matronly, bridal, or dated in a heartbeat. And even if you found a great design, sometimes the price could go as high as $200/yard.

I found this black sequined and metallic thread design made from Italian linen at Michael Levine’s last spring, and when I ran across it again after searching high and low, I felt it was the right choice.  I thought it looked a little like rain, it reminded me a little of my swimsuit coverup fabric, and had a bit of an edge I could play up. While it was more expensive than I’d hoped at $20/yard, it was less expensive than the $60/yard fabric that was my backup plan. Luckily, I only needed a yard.

Front:

The overlay can be removed and the dress underneath can be worn by itself.  The underdress is lined and made with velvety silk charmeuse and chiffon.

Side:

I added a bead trim to give the neckline definition and silver and black buttons to close the back. Funny enough, my friend Sinclaire and I came up with the same idea independently to switch out the plain buttons with skull buttons if I really wanted to go with an edgier rocker/goth look.

Back:

Closeup of back:

While the dress is a little different from what I’d conceptualized, mainly due to fabric constraints, I thought it turned out pretty well.