Sometimes you see a dress and you know exactly why it's on sale. Like this one, from Necessary Objects, which is reduced to $33 at Nordstrom.com. I mean — look at how chunky it makes the model (the model!) look. And really, I think there are only two excuses for cowls: satin evening gowns and contests where the goal is to use as much fabric as possible. I would think that this was the latter, except that the skirt's so short. The model looks as if she would like to pull that cowl right over her head.
Oh, and did I mention that it's polyester? Yeah. I hope Nordstrom didn't take a big position in these babies.
In other news: I'm still trying to figure out how to post all the great book covers in a way that lets you vote on them without me having to do any counting. Also, I figured out how to do the Duro dress! I think. I have a muslin done, took me about an hour last night. It's not perfect (figuring out where to put the zipper is going to take a while) but it's getting there!
A Dress A Day 
Yikes. I never buy patterns where there is a photo in which the model looks fat. I figure if that piece of clothing makes her look fat, I am doomed.
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That dress looks like a 7th grade home ec project. From 1986. Yeccch.
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Ugh. That outfit looks like someone cut up her gym clothes and reassembled them into a dress — in other words, a total waste of time!
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It looks like a dress version of the “low-rise” pants nightmare. It gives you no waist at all, making you start out looking thick in the middle, and then cuts you off at your widest point, thus giving an overall unflattering and chunky look to even the slimmest among us. At least with the dress version you don’t get the abhorrent “muffin top” effect. The cowl fails to adequately distract from what is going on below, and as you stated, is SO unnecessary.
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You and I must be collar anti-twins. I love cowls along with all high drama necklines, from stiffly starched Carolina Herrera to mandarins. But even the cowl on this looks badly done, even though I kind of like the stiffness of the fabric on it.
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Oh no!!! What is going on with Necessay Objects is she having a bad year designing??? I used to like her stuff when she first came out years ago. This dress is gawd awful!! Makes the model look fat( therefor Iam doomed) If I had this cowl neck I would pull it over my head and hide. Poly fabric yuck!!!I can only say one thing nice about this dress the color. I love this color gray that’s it there is nothing else nice to say.
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I would like to add that I think the fabric in the skirt is off-grain, thus making it hang funny.This dress is stoopid! It makes me want to taunt it and pull its pigtails.
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Oh no!!! Taunt it and pull it pigtails hahahah!!! This makes me laugh cant help myself.
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Out of curiosity, when you make a muslin trial dress, what do you do with the trial dress when you’re finished with it? Are those wearable too? Do you keep them as a 3-d pattern or throw them away?
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Lisa — I rarely make muslins because I am lazy (also, I’m lucky that my measurements aren’t so far off from most of the patterns I use that I have to make major adjustments). When I do, I don’t use real muslin fabric, but instead try to use up lightweight cottons that I have lying around the sewing room (sometimes for YEARS) but have never sewn up.Sometimes they end up wearable — other times I cut them up for something else. Sometimes I give up in frustration and they hang around and reproach me!
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Hmmm…methinks that $33 is pricey for this dress. I also just don’t see it hanging at Nordstroms. Perhaps a discount store rack, but not a higher end department store.As Floridaprincess said, the grey isn’t bad. I don’t know…perhaps in a lightweight wool, with some darts, a slightly less overwhelming cowl, and a more shapely skirt. Or with what they’ve already got, you could rip off the skirt, and it would be a reasonable top. But, still, not for $33.
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Erin, you’re putting a zipper in the Douro dress? Instead of having waist ties in the back? I’m sorry, I was always under the impression that the waistband extended into matching ties, and the dress just popped on over the head. Hunh.
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Bella, I have never seen a picture of the back of a Duro dress! Although I have seen mentions of back zips, I don’t want to try to put that in.I think I may have to go the back-ties route, as what I have now is fairly unworkable. Back to the drawing board!
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