Dolly OSCARS Red Carpet 2016

My girls had a VERY good time on the red carpet of the 58th Academy Awards in Hollywood. "Something for everyone" was their general impression. I'm finally coming to terms with the notion that couture as I once knew it, is a thing of the past....at least for the moment. The reality of our current times dictates a type of red carpet fashion that is simple in silhouette. The best of these "simple" looks are those rich in details.

Our favorite was the pant/dress combo worn by Lady Gaga, designed by Brandon Maxwell. We loved it for its originality and its old school glamour. There were certain modifications I was forced to make due to the scale of the doll. I used a wool crepe which afforded me the kind of weight I wanted for the drape. The fabric was a bit bulky, but it afforded the kind of drape and smooth rolls I was looking for. Due to the problem of bulk, I recreated this look in three parts: top, pants and over-skirt. For the top, I was able to drape a neckline which came close to the original, however, it involved too much fabric around the top to give me satisfactory results. Finally after fighting with it, I decided to simplify. It is a bodice with the top that rolls forward and is stitched down underneath. The pants are pretty straight forward. The skirt was an accident. I had cut a circle skirt out of this fabric for another look then realized it didn't work for the look. On the other had, with a few adjustments, I was not only able to make it work for this one, but discovered that it had just the right amount of body to hand softly in a sumptuous way. Lesson learned here...what counts is that the finished results strongly resemble the original design.

I had not planned to do this gown because I did not have the right materials. But someone on Twitter begged me to find some way to recreate this look. So.....instead of the silk for the body of the dress and the feathers and rhinestones for the "butterfly" embellishments, I used a sheer white muslin for the body and I cut up bits of sheer polyester curtain fabric which I then frayed the edges in place of the feathers and glitter glue and a few rhinestone stickers for the butterflies. Those bits are then folded into tiny quarters then stitched, one by one onto the dress. The dress itself uses the basic princess line pattern. As I began to stitch on the embellishments, I was very happy with the results.

This dress immediately caught my eye. I love the asymmetrical detailing around the shoulders. Realization was quite simple as this begins with a strapless sheath dress. Afterwards, I pleated a bit of silk then draped it over the arm and bodice. That extra piece is stitched down onto the dress in the front and back but left to flow freely from the waist. So it is in effect, a slim dress with a sash! I sewed on small beads over one side of the bust. (Though if I had black sparkles on hand, I would have used that instead because it resembles more the original dress). I also made a beaded belt which closes in the back. I had made her beaded trimmed gloves a few years back. You'll notice I painted her hands to resemble gloves with fingers as shown in this post.

I'm not so sure I would want to wear this for myself, but as soon as I saw Kerry Washington's outfit, I knew it would be simple to make and Carol, one of my S.I.S. Barbies was only too happy to pose in this. This is quite simply a one-piece leather corset with straps added to the top and bottom. (The leather came from an old belt I cut up.) The skirt is simply a piece of silk wrapped around her hips in sarong fashion.

The girls were very attracted to the amethyst color of Tina Fey's Versace gown. I liked it for the way it was draped around the body. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the fine silk used for the original, but I did have a polyester substitute in the same color. This dress begins with a foundation cut from the same material and is realized by draping and tacking in place the folds over the body in a technique previously explained here.

 I love the look of what some call "technical" fabrics. While I didn't have the exact material, I used two layers of polyester organza (sometimes called "crystal polyester") tacked to a foundation underneath to simulate the look.

I chose this dress for the color and simplicity of the style. This dress consists of a narrow, fitted, halter neck dress suspended from a ribbon (which ties in the back). My fabric is not the silk charmeuse used in the original. It's thicker. I cut this on the bias, but still needed side bust darts to pull closer to the body. Essentially this is a slim dress that I have added  a wedge into the back seam as a train.

My last dress--another simple, yet dramatic dress. For the dolly version, I made this in two pieces: the basic sheath dress with a one-shouldered caplet draped over one shoulder. There was also a Calvin Klein sequin dress which at first glance--appeared to be fairly mundane. What made that dress a small wonder was the gradation of fish scale color sequins arranged in scallop formation from the hips to the ankles. Again an example of the expression...."the devil is in the details!"


We now return you to our regular broadcasting.....up next....Doll's Eye View of the Fall/Winter 2016 Trends from Milan.


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