Black History Month Luncheon Dress

Wednesday marked the last day of Black History Month and my workplace hosted a closing luncheon featuring local artists and writers. Last year’s luncheon featured a performance by the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble, which was insanely phenomenal, but sadly they weren’t at this year’s luncheon. Watch all of their videos on YouTube. You won’t be disappointed. And then imagine how it would have been seeing those performances in person. It was amazing! (Can you tell how disappointed I was that they didn't come again this year?)

This year the luncheon included an African Attire contest and, being a member of the celebrations committee, I thought I should join in the fun. My first go at this project was McCalls 7647 from the 90s.

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I found this lovely African print fabric on VogueFabrics (it’s no longer available) and ordered enough to make the faux wrap skirt and the overskirt.

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The fabric is a stiff cotton so I was a little worried about the bulk of the skirt, but I forged through and whipped it up relatively quickly. When I tried it on to mark the hem, I realized that there was no way I could wear this skirt to work. It was boxy, bulky, and shapeless and made my lower half look about 50 pounds heavier. Of course I knew that the skirt was going to be like that all along, but I thought the overskirt would make it not so hideous on me. Boy was I wrong. I’m not even comfortable putting a picture of me in the skirt for learning purposes. It was that wrong of a choice for my body type. Since someone else who can pull off floor length skirts might want it, I threw the skirt into the Purple Heart bag and I was left to figure out a new solution. It was the first time I had used elastic in a waistband so at least I learned a new skill.

I eventually decided to make the Lisette Portfolio dress (Simplicity 2245). In my most lucky happenstance moment of the year, Joann ran their $1 Simplicity sale merely one day after I crashed and burned with McCalls 7647! I also finally got to pick up a couple of Cynthia Rowley patterns that I have been wanting for months. All was right in the world.

Almost right, I mean. I wanted to use the same African print fabric even though I didn’t have enough left to make the dress (even if I took apart the skirt). After some panicking, I found the same fabric on FabricsDownUnder.com and they kindly agreed to send me uncut yards instead of the fat quarters that they advertise on their website. What wonderful customer service!

The Portfolio would have never made its way into my pattern stash had it not been for this very specific occasion. My body type does not do well with loose clothing, especially tunics, and most especially tunic dresses. But I thought this was the best case scenario for my luncheon outfit. For the contrast fabric, I used white cotton that I had in my stash. Much to my delight, this dress went together so quickly and easily! I can’t say that I’ll be using any part of this pattern ever again, but for this special occasion, I’ll pay the $1! The only modification that I made was adding 3 inches to the length of the dress so it hit at my knees instead of above. I was still hesitant about wearing a shapeless sack to work, so I raided my mom’s belt collection and found this black weaved belt. I was glad to once again have a visible waist. I do like the pockets even if they stick out a bit when I have the belt on.

 

I still thought I looked a little cult-memberish, so I added a black cardigan. And then my outfit was complete!

I’m positive that this dress won’t see the light of day until next February, but at least I was comfortable wearing it to work and I looked festive for the occasion too. It was a win-win!