Lilly and I share an appreciation for 1960s fashion, especially dresses from the mod era. Anything that Twiggy would wear. And most especially an appreciation for Yves St. Laurent's 1965 Mondrian dress. I decided I would try to make a version of this iconic dress, using a vintage pattern. I found Vogue 4304 at an estate sale, and decided that, with some modification, this pattern could provide the basic outline of the dress. I modified that pattern by removing all darts. I also used a finished Vogue Paris Original 1715 dress (designed by Patou) to give me some guidelines as to where the dress would be divided into rectangles.
It was no trouble to find a nice solid knit at Joann Fabrics, however, I couldn't find a blue (too royal!), or a yellow (too orange!) that would suit. I ended up purchasing a blue polo shirt and a yellow polo shirt that were closer to the original colors at a thrift store. They were very inexpensive and I didn't feel wasteful cutting them up for fabric.
I also bought a lighter white knit to be used as lining for each piece. I felt that if I didn't use lining, all my careful cutting would pull and stretch. One of the reasons this dress took so long was that I hand basted each piece of lining on to the dress fabric. I was being meticulous, but now that I'm done, I'm happy with the results. And here they are!
