Evening wear circa 1998

I designed both of my high school prom dresses as a teenager.  I would sketch them out and enlist my aunt to help me make my vision a reality.  I knew nothing about pattern making, neither did my aunt.  However, she did teach me how I can alter a pattern.  We would shop together for a pattern that matched my sketch the best.  I would then spend time at her house and together we would make my prom dress.  Below is a sketch of my second prom dress that I designed for my high school senior prom.

Senior Prom evening gown sketch

 I was very fond of what I called "Slash Fashion".  This is basically what I called garments that appeared to have pieces missing.  I designed the gown to have one shoulder strap with a keyhole int he front.


Back View of evening gown sketch

 In the back of the dress I intended for the shoulder strap to separate into two straps in order to anchor the dress on both the right and left bringing back symmetry to the gown.  Below is how the dress actually turned out....

Unfortunately, my aunt and I could not get the keyhole worked into this pattern...

 Still, the dress turned out beautifully....

We also had to alter the back of the dress to make it wearable once we started the project.  However, for a teenager without formal design education this is a great attempt at creating from a sketch using a pattern.