Midnight Pleated Prom 2009

This is the prom dress I made for myself and wore to my senior prom. I wanted to make something a little daring - to make a classic gown in keeping with my style but with an edge of drama and red-carpet impact. You only live once.

It is made of midnight blue crepe back satin. I debated the choice of fabric for a long time because a big part of the dress is texture but my experiences with crepe fabrics have not been altogether positive. I was also afraid that the dress would look cheap if I used crepe back satin. I decided to try it! I bought the fabric and at first I thought I had over-estimated but when I was done I had less than half a yard left.

I draped the pattern for the bodice, the pleats took a long time to get right but I'm happy with how they came out. The bodice is lined and the pleats are asymmetrical and wrap around the whole torso section. Since the pleats are only tacked at the side seams they tend to shift and ripple when I move as you can see in the photo. I did it that way so I would have ease of movement and I was willing to compromise.

What do you think?