Smithson Gown 2005
January 22
Time to start planning this year's gown!!
The annual James Smithson Society Gala will be held on Saturday, April 16, at the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. This is a Black Tie Gala, and for the past three years I have made a gown for occasion that is appropriate to the venue. I have also documented the design and fabrication of the gown on this site.
The difficulty with the Native American theme is how to make a gown that won't make me look like one of the displays! I was stumped until I came across a photo of the museum at the Winter Solstice, with a splash of spectral color projected against the wall of the atrium by a prism strategically set into the wall. So, I will be using "colors of the rainbow" as my theme.
Every gown starts with sketches!
Idea #1
A deep blue gown with inset circular ruffles in the colors of the spectrum. The base fabric would be something matte; perhaps raw silk. The flounces would be silk.
Idea #2
A peachy-pink slinky or matte jersey gown encrusted with a spectral swath of Swarovski crystals. The swath would be a continuous band encircling the gown from neck to hem.
Not much to go by yet, but stay tuned... this promises to be a wild ride!!
April 14
Finally an update! Sorry for the lack of progress on this dress; I was involved in a major work project that completely consumed my time. Now it's 48 hours before the big event and I'm finally back in the swing.
It took two trials and some tweaking to get the dress the way I wanted it. And now that I have sewn it, I like the way it feels and it is very comfortable. It is also somewhat too tight, so no need to tell me that... I know. Believe me, I know. But at this point I can't make another one; I don't have enough fabric and certainly don't have enough time. My only choices are to finish this gown, decide if I want to wear it, and if I choose not to, I will pull my outfit from 2002 out of the closet and wear that. Such is life.
Anyway, here is the front of the dress:
It's not hemmed yet and I still have to apply the crystals.
Here's the back:
And yes, I am wearing a body smoother. It's a strapless one I got at Sylene's yesterday.
I'm going to reserve final judgement until I get the crystals on it, then I will see how it looks and feels. Or maybe I will wrap myself in Saran Wrap for the next 48 hours and hope I sweat off enough to make it look acceptable.
I gotta tell you, I'm not terribly proud of this one. But I said I would show you all, and I am, warts and flab and all.
Comments, if you could please keep them polite, can be sent to welmoed@sissonfamily.com
April 14, 11:40 p.m.
Of course I couldn't let this be; I had to do SOMETHING about it!!
Anyway, I found that I had enough fabric left to cut out a new back panel. So I took about two hours and completely unpicked the dress and sewed it back together with a new back. I didn't sew the darts in the back; if it needs it I will do that tomorrow. But I am SO happy... it goes to show that miracles DO happen, and with enough feedback and support one can do just about anything.
Here's the new front view:
Looks a LOT better, IMHO. And yes, I am wearing a strapless body shaper under it in this picture.
Now for the back:
Not nearly as much "butt curve", although the panty line is showing a bit more than I would like. But it's MINOR compared with the last version!!
Okay, so now I will hem the sleeve and bottom and start attaching the crystals. After I get some sleep, that is!
Whew!!!!
The Big Night
April 16
On with the show! Here we are, all dressed up and ready to head out. My wonderful hairdresser, Dawn Hancock, came to the house to do my hair and makeup (it's my annual indulgence).
The colored crystals really didn't show up at all, but it was a nice idea.
Here's a close-up showing the hairdo. It was a nice old-fashioned chignon with about half a can of hairspray and two dozen bobby pins holding it in place. It looked nice but felt like a helmet!!
The dinner was held at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. Here's a shot of the tables set up for dinner.
There were several hands-on displays set up for guests, with docents to explain them. This one was about different tribes' methods and materials of boat building. One interesting factoid: the birch bark boat on the end nearest me is sewn together not with sinew, but with spruce roots! Also, a kayak is custom-sized for the person who will be using it: it is twice the length of the distance from fingertip to fingertip.
While I was looking at some displays, Bob went around and did some "snoop shopping" for me of some of the other attendees.
There were several variations of this design: long, flared, solid.
This was a lovely gown... heavily beaded top and a matching fabric skirt.
(and I really should have sewn the back darts on my dress... oh well)
Most of the dresses were solid color; there were few prints to be seen. Some had interesting hemlines like the orange on on the right.
Talking with another guest; her skirt had fluttery layers and really looked fabulous on her.
I didn't see anything unusual on the men... not one wore anything more exciting than a red bow tie. It really was an unimaginative bunch.
Check out the shoes.
This was probably the wildest outfit of the evening... the gentleman in the center is the Dutch ambassador, and the lady in the green pants is his wife. The pants were of a sequinned green fabric.
So, that's it for another Smithson year! Next year, the gala will be held at the National Air & Space Museum on the mall, so tune in again next January for Smithson version 5!