Adventures in Modifying a J. Crew Sophia Silk Tricotine Gown – Part 9

FYI – The “real” Watters gown is on eBay in a size 10 (starting at $300, Buy It Now for $399).  Click here to go to listing.  And here’s another size 10 on eBay (starting at $75, Buy It Now for $425) – (click here to go to listing).

Adventures in Modifying a J. Crew Sophia Silk Tricotine Gown – Part 8

The other day I found some J. Crew shoes that, in the Pale Gold color, would go with the modified gown well.  They are called Paige Metallic Braided Flat Sandals and are on “sale” now at jcrew.com.

Adventures in Modifying a J. Crew Sophia Silk Tricotine Gown – Part 7

I’ve done a lot of seam ripping over the past couple of days.  First I detached the bodice from the skirt (both sizes).  Then I deconstructured the back of the gown so that I could restyle it to remove the surplice.  Here are some pics (the bodice also shows how I deconstructed it to remove the surplice):

Detached Bodice

 

Detached Skirt

I tried on the bodice and, with skillful mirror placement, was able to determine the most flattering back.  I chose the button back where the seam would meet at the top middle of the waist yoke.  There was another option to make a low back where the shoulders plummetted straight down and the top of the waist yoke was exposed.  This was flattering, but I felt it did not jive with the style of the front of the gown, so I decided against it.

I pinned and creased the back in the same way I did the front.  I tested the symmetry by placing pins in an “X” pattern on the inside of the gown, holding the back seam together as shown below:

"X" Pattern Pinned BackThe result:Seam Meeting at Back

 The result:

Seams Meeting at Back

I need to rethink the buttons and even the overall type of closure I want at the back of the bodice.  I’m not sure that the buttons I currently have are right for this gown.  I’ll keep digging for the perfect closure.  The other contender which I have yet to explore is the high back.  I could do this with buttons as well.  I’d have to trace out a pattern and cut it out using the skirt that I’m not using.  I also need to determine the desired shape of the sleeves and create a pattern for them.

Adventures in Modifying a J. Crew Sophia Silk Tricotine Gown – Part 6

I’d like to talk briefly about the color of the J. Crew Sophia Silk Tricotine Dress.  On J. Crew’s website the gown looks whiter than in non-professional digital camera pics on other websites.  I think in bright or natural light this gown does look close to off-white or light ivory.  Even against the whitest white in person, this gown looks off-white to ivory.  However in some pics it comes out looking more like a dark ivory.  I think this is due to the creamy yellow undertones in the fabric.  I would say that if you wanted your gown to look white and will be using it in a poorly lit indoor area, you’d want to go with something other than the ivory silk tricotine.  My other advice is, if color really matters to you, purchase the gown with a return policy and bring it to the venue in whatever light will be typical throughout your event and take lots of pictures so that you can have an ideal of how it will look both in person and in photographs.  Personally I love the color as is.  It goes very well with my olive undertoned skin.