Military/Steamy Prom Gown

Gown but different
This is the prom gown i was asked to make for the daughter of my mother´s friend.
she´s not the one that wanna buy a simple cocktail dress and wanted something special.
as we are both addicted to all things military/uniform style, i suggested to make it this way to stand out a bit (more).

the gown consists of a creme two-layered underskirt made of hemp silk. that fabric is amazing! it has structure and is shiny in a more subtile way. the best is, she wanted a creme colored skirt and the hemp silk is this color without dying! so it´s totally natural! for lining there is a skirt made of venezia lining, because the silk is a bit transparent.
for the top i made a corsage out of moderately shiny taffeta. for lining i used a simple cotton fabric and inserted steel boning. the corsage has some kind of pointed collar and four horizontal military inspired bars out of hemp silk. the bars are attached with metallic uniform buttons that have a crest. the closure is a zipper in the centre back. attached to the corsage is the bustle out of taffeta. i made a two-layered balloon-like bustle which is gathered at the hem and the attaching seam to the corsage.

it was my first really "bombastic" gown, i made some cocktail dresses and a business dress before, but as it is my first i wanted to show you! although i´m proud of how it turned out.

i can´t remember how much time i needed exactly, i´m the one that makes a couple of hours every other day, as i have university courses and a life :) i think 40 hours with patternmaking, sampling and corrections will work.

all in all, i think the price is okay for a prom gown, i paid about 190€ for the materials and she had to pay just for that and not for me. i take it as practice and i´m not fully finished with my apprenticeship yet, but if i would have taken money per hour i think the dress would be about 800€, so it´s a true bargain now!

for me, it wasn´t difficult at all, the people i showed pics or the dress itself thought it was, i wondered myself that it was so easy for me to make it!! the most difficult thing actually was making the bars for the corsage. after turning them the edges weren´t 100% exactly at all, but with a bit ironing and pinching it worked :)

oh, i forgot to say, it´s not her in the pictures, it´s my mom :) unfortunately, i have any full photos of the dress with its right owner.