The newest LBD for my collection is New Look 6524. I picked this pattern because of the really cute sleeve options. This pattern is really reflective of what's currently in stores now. You can't walk into a Banana Republic or Ann Taylor without seeing this style.
Normally, my go-to dress style is a sheath. But every now and then, I'll slip on a shift. When it comes to a shift dress, I like mine darted at the bust, loose through the middle and skimming over the hips. And most importantly, a shorter hemline -- like this one. Not necessarily mini, but definitely above the knees. That's the only way this style of dress doesn't go matronly as in Memaw's house dress and "sackish" on me.
My fabric is a black and white windowpane plaid suiting with stretch. For the pattern, I cut view D in a size 14 and graded to a size 16 at the hip. I added an inch at the waist and 2 inches at the hem. This made the body of my dress 40".
The fabric is a poly/viscose/elastane blend, but it looks like a tropical wool suiting and it cuts, sews and presses beautifully.
This is a really easy dress to sew... the kind that would only take a movie to cut and sew. But complicated it by having to match plaid
The dress has an invisible back zip and a facing.
I finished off my pressed open seams with my serger.
The dress also has a walking vent, which I rarely see in shift dresses. And I hemmed using a blindstitch.
The sleeve ties are held together with D-rings. The finished size is supposed to be one inch. But I only had 3/4" D-rings in my stash. So I lessened the width. And I actually think I like the narrow size better.
I accessorized with less conservative accessories so that the dress wouldn't look so corporate and conservative in this professional menswear fabric. It's such a cute style, that I could even see pairing this with a pair of Chuck's!
