Natasha's Early 1960's inspired dress

I made this dress for Natasha with the late 1950's/early 1960's in mind. Many people assume that once 1960 ticked over, people stoppped wearing fuller skirts, which is not so.

This dress is made from Black 100% Polyester Shantung. Some of you may shrudder at the fact that the fabric is Polyester, but I find that this particular make is not the yucky-feeling kind. I half lined the dress in 100% Viscose to try and offset the Polyesterness of the fabric.

Boat neck and princess seams allowed me to have a firm bustline and a little room in the waist for sitting and dancing. The centre back has an invisible zip closure.

Tash and I wanted to create a full looking skirt without it being too big, so I made an a-line skirt and included a separate petticoat/underskirt with the design. This gives Tash the option to 'dress down' her dress if the occasion comes up.

A 1 1/2" wide self covered belt finishes off the dress perfectly.

Thank you to Al and Natasha for supplying me with this beautiful photo.