Friday, October 26, 2018

Project of the Year

Life, for most of us, is hard and boring. If we wait for the world to offer us excitement, we're usually disappointed. I've found that you need to act on your own initiative to grab joy in life.

At least once a year I try to do a major project whose aim is pure fun. No business purpose, no social or other obligation. Just fun.

Last year I visited my friend Aimee in upstate New York (Potsdam). Aimee is a talented seamstress who makes clothes and costumes for friends and customers. Hearing her stories put an idea in my head -- maybe I could ask Aimee to make me a dress. A real dress. The perfect dress. So I did and she said yes. We've spent an entire year working on it and the dress was just completed. Squee!!

Due to my large size and odd shape for a girl, most women's clothes don't fit me. If they're right in one spot, they're not in another. That's just a difficulty I've gotten used to. But if I could design a dress from scratch, maybe I could have one that fits everywhere.

So Aimee and I brainstormed this. What is my favorite color? What era and style appeal to me? What silhouette and shape suit my cylindrical body? We spent a good deal of time working on these questions and found the right answers.

Aimee sourced beautiful fabrics, sew-ed her little fingers off and, in July, we met again for a fitting. Aimee put a rough-draft on my body and made adjustments. Then she retired to her laboratory for a few months of further work.

Today, the finished dress arrived in a big box. It's done!

I want to do this dress justice -- which means I want to have quality photos taken by someone more skilled in photography than me. And I hope to have better makeup applied than my usual hatchet job. So, I'm not going to show you the final result yet. I'll arrange a photoshoot and reveal the culmination soon. Until then, here's a peek!



17 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post Ally. What a great project too and right that you want to do the outfit justice by looking your very best. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

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  2. So excited to see you in it! Thank you for the creative opportunity. It's not often people are willing to indulge my creativity and give me so much free rein ;-)

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    1. I'm smart enough to recognize genius and enlist it in my favor!

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  3. Oh WOW!!!! What an awesome project. Can't wait to see you in it!!!!

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  4. This is a dress fit for a princess! Aimee did a great job! It is going to be wonderful to see you modelling it.

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

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    1. Princess! I like that. Perhaps I should include my tiara in the photos. (Every gal has a tiara, right?!)

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  5. Beautiful dress and it was nice to get the back story of the work you and Aimee did to reach this result.

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    1. In past projects I learned that the process is as much fun as the end result. So I savor every aspect from initial contemplation to final sharing with friends.

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  6. You must be so thrilled, Ally. Can't wait to see in it. Aimee did a great job, and the colour and print are just fantastic! xxx

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  7. It is so thrilling1 custom made things totally feel different, feel better. I love this dress and can't wait to see it on you!

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  8. What a gorgeous dress! I love the colour and the lovely embroidered outer layer - that neckline will look beautiful on you. It is a wonderful gift to ourselves to have a dress custom-made!

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  9. Oh MY!!!!!!!!!!!! It's utterly beautiful. I cannot WAIT to see you in it- what an amazing dress- that collar is to die for!

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  10. I love the dress! It is stunning!

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  11. Oh wow what an amazing project to embark on !
    I love that you treated yourself to this, I love the color and look forward to see you wear it.

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