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Let me set the mood…it’s 1985. The years most anticipated film has just premiered and I’m confident that it’s up for at least 25 Grammys. Emmy’s. Whatever. It doesn’t matter because this is a fictional situation and I’m positive Tom Hanks’s movie, The Man with One Red Shoe wasn’t nominated.

However, there was one moment that slayed me. I think Wikipedia says it best: In a startling scene, she greets him at her door in a demure high-necked black-velvet dress, then turns around and shows that the dress is backless, displaying discreet buttock cleavage.  Does this look discreet to you?

The answer is: yes. If I were going on a job interview and wanted to look professional yet discreetly sexy, I would definitely wear this. Ok ok! I won’t make this movie the butt of all my jokes, but I just had to take a crack at it.

It got me thinking about dresses I love and I remembered this secret picture folder (not so secret. It’s named “Dresses”) with images of frocks that, if I knew how to sew better, I’d be whipping up and selling to you. Let’s begin.

I would have gotten married in this dress if I could have. I’m fairly sure it’s Marchesa, but I didn’t note any of the info when I saved these pics. It’s mostly the color. I wanted a gray/mauve/antique colored wedding dress. I was also inspired by this one with SJP

Ok moving on…ANY racerback dress is a friend of mine. If you haven’t seen Water For Elephants, the costumes are incredible (ok I only noticed Reese’s). The blue racerback dress in the scenewheretheshithitsthefan is one of my favorite for sure. I’m totally going to try to make this one day.

I feel the same way about this Chloe dress from many seasons ago. You may not even need a machine!? Some strategic draping, stitches, and hemming and I would imagine I’d be good to go. Side note, I felt the same way about my swimsuit I made for my senior trip, and it turns out I would recommend NOT handstitching a swimsuit you plan on wearing in public.

So, let me leave you with a project we can actually do: it’s a skirt you can wear anywhere. My mother-in-law wore it on a cruise dinner and I imagine visiting Jessica and Reagan in NYC and going to dinner on a hot summer night with this, a gray tank top, messy mermaid hair, and bright lipstick. This blogger lady is adorable.

What you’ll need:

  • The Butterick 5650 pattern ($10). Wait! It’s on sale now for $1.99 plus $4 shipping!!! You’ll also need a zipper and a hook clasp.
  • Depending on size, (it breaks down yardage needed on the site and on the back of the patttern). I like pattern “B” and will get about 2.5 yards of poly shantung “pretend silk.” Everywhere I’ve looked, this is about $9.99/yard, which is why I haven’t done this project yet. I’m holding out for cheaper. Ideally, I’d love navy because I think it’s fancy casual and because it will hide dirt from the streets of NYC.

You can make it, find one yourself, or ask me to make it for you. I’m up for it! Or you can buy this $8 skirt that’s also awesome but practically unrelated.