Bust from Bond

April 30, 2007 10:42 AM

Please help me with my sister's prom dress...

My sister is graduating and I am making her a prom dress.
I've made the pattern for most of the body and the back, but am stuck on the front of the neck and the bust.
The neck/bustline of the orange dress worn by Solange in Casino Royale would be perfect for my sister's figure. When I contacted the designer of the dress (Jenny Packham) however, I was told that all pattern information is, understandably, confidential.
Does anyone know how I could imitate this cowel neckline, or if there is a pattern which has a similar neckline which I could use?
The prom is in late June, so I have lots of time to order and edit patterns.

posted by Count to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

That looks just like my prom dress in 1979, it was made from a vogue pattern.

Just a warning, the bodice is cut on a bias. Towards the end of the night, the neckline was MUCH lower due to the weight of the dress itself.

It was a beautiful dress, mine was red in crepe backed sateen.
posted by JujuB at 11:08 AM on April 30, 2007

This pattern is not quite it, but it's not a completely different idea either.
posted by kmennie at 11:12 AM on April 30, 2007

Sorry I don't have a real answer, but you might also check in the forum sections at www.craftster.org, or at sewing.petternreview.com. I think they discuss questions like this sometimes. Good luck.
posted by dilettante at 11:14 AM on April 30, 2007

That dress had a really great back (not a good pic but you can see a bit of it). Here are two patterns that have a cowl and a nice back. If you check simplicity, butterick, vogue, mccalls, and eBay, there are dozens and dozens of cowl-necked patterns, each is slightly different. In lieu of buying a pattern you could always go to your nearest thrift shop and find a cowl-neck blouse or dress for cheap and deconstruct it to use the pieces as templates.
posted by iconomy at 11:22 AM on April 30, 2007

The important thing to remember is balancing the measurement on the bottom of the bust line with the cowling on the top. You want there to be enough differential to create the “droop” but not too much. It’s easy enough to make a neck line like that on a dress form that looks great but can spontaneously be way too revealing on a real woman. My suggestion would be to start the line a little higher than appears necessary, this way you can allow enough droop to create a tantalizing cowl effect, without your sister’s breast making an unexpected appearance during a faster dance number.
posted by French Fry at 11:29 AM on April 30, 2007

This Vogue pattern looks like it could be easily adapted to your needs.

Also, found this dress with a similar draped neckline, with a nice additional detail of twisted straps (no pattern, however).
posted by jamaro at 11:30 AM on April 30, 2007