Another crazy dress

Yesterday, I finally finished the dress I've been working on. Don't worry, there are pictures which show it better.
You may already recognise the silhouette though. I announced this dress in my "sewing plans" post.

I even posted this sketch back then.

It wasn't much later that I started drafting the pattern. In itself, that wasn't difficult but I wanted to incorporate the adjustment for the larger cupsize (other than that, I could just use the bodice pattern from a previous kimono sleeved dress as a starting point). And then, work was crazy these past weeks and we had plans in the weekend which didn't leave much time for sewing.

Anyway, this is what vintagesewing (with a big 'thank you' to lsaspacey for pointing out the webarchive page) calls a "cowl skirt". It also appears in Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Womenswear, which I sort of looked at while drafting. I own that book in Dutch and the name there translates as "tapering skirt with draped hipline". 

Whatever the name, this not your average skirt. Of course, playing with the proportions could yield less over-the-top looks but it's never going to everybody's cup of tea. I was torn between love and fear during much of the construction myself ;)

Other than that crazy skirt, the dress has fitted kimono sleeves with underarm gussets and a convertible collar with a bit of a twist. Normally, such a collar is drafted on a high and fitted neckline, I widened mine by 2 cm, made it quite a bit deeper and made a separate facing which allowed me to make the lower notches stick out past the straight lines of the front overlap.

At the back, there's a little detail I've been admiring in 1940's and 1950's patterns. It's pointed at center back. A small detail, but if the collar curves nicely at the back of the dress, I think it looks rather good.

I made the dress in a mystery fabric which I think is viscose. It's quite drapey (which was really needed for that skirt), of medium weight and has a really soft plush back (which does mean I'll really need a slip if I ever want to wear it with tights). I had remembered the colour as a dark teal but actually it's more like bottle green. 
And the belt, I made a couple of months ago from a piece of thick leather (which used to be a material sample at a furniture store) a purchased buckle which matched the colour perfectly and some heavy duty gormets.

All in all, it's not an 'everyday' kind of dress but I like it.