Apr
28
Crop top
I had in mind a dress for spring, something lightweight that would incorporate the look of a crop top with a matching skirt. But I didn’t really want the hassle of having to wear a crop top. I quickly thought of a way to consolidate the look of the outfit with a nude tulle band running across the waist to create the illusion that this area is bare. It’s not much design wise but easy for spring when the weather isn’t too hot and nights can get somewhat chilly…
The challenge of this dress (though it may look simple) was getting a clean finish around the waist and crop top when one turns the dress inside out. This georgette fabric has a tendency to be really flimsy/slippery so I had to incorporate many stay stitches before sewing seams together. Another important design element was added to the skirt, a waistband. At first I wanted to just sew the shirred skirt directly onto the nude but this caused problems with the construction, all the shirred seams would show through the nude tulle where the fabric is completely transparent. The narrow waistband was a way to secure the shirred skirt without having to expose the seams.
A very discreet invisible side zipper was also implemented as to not disturb the illusion of the crop top/nude insert running around the waist. This was another challenging part, though again, the design seems really simple. I hate sewing zippers, no matter how many times I do it its always the part I dread the most. I have never met a zipper I like, ever. You’ll notice that 80% of the design elements in this dress are dictated by construction limits.
I used an exposed white zipper to finish the neckline. I wanted to use the same zipper to finish the hem of the skirt, but the yardage of the skirt at the hem is incredibly long because its shirred at the waist and its cut into bias circles…I measured the hem and it would have required a whole entire roll of a zipper (about 30 yards) and it would’ve made the dress incredibly heavy and unwearable. Again, another construction related limit that requires me to shave off design details. Also the hem is uneven, slightly longer towards the back, but I tend not to like dresses with this kind of shirring detail that have completely straight hems..it can look somewhat unnatural. I wanted the hem of this dress to be slightly haphazard.
My dog’s version of this dress was even more limited in design, obviously because its a dog and it has to freely do its thing. I added a zipper down the center back and a little ruffled skirt but I shaved off the length as it reach her belly so it didn’t inhibit her walking.
You might have noticed my posts have been slapdash lately. I took some time off to play nurse for my mom, she’s been laid up in bed unable to walk for about a two months now so I’ve been taking care of her/running her errands-I’m the only child so there are no siblings around to pick up the slack… …She starts therapy tomorrow so she’ll slowly be able to walk again… On top of playing nurse I’ve also been working on a project that took me to hell and back but its 99% done now just waiting for some signatures to come through…I’ll try to deliver better quality posts but who knows when that will be seeing as I have no time right now..
hope your mom gets better!!!
This top is genius!! especially for those who are too modest to walk around with their belly showing!
WOW you’re amazing! i love the print & your workmanship is always superb!
PS. Where’re your shoes from?
here you go http://www.snaz75.com/el-652-oxford.html
there is nothing “slapdash” about this at all, it is fantastic and mind-blowing as always!
Oh. my. god.
I love it.
your work is incredibly poetic! i love the fabric you use, the strong pattern and the delicate finish!
i am not so much into dog outfit, i find it amusing and challenging to adapt the design to another creature though. ^__^
oh and all my thought to your mother and you. I hope she gets better (i am quite in the same situation with my dad, i understand and find extremely amazing that you can do all of this in this situation!)
Hope your mother feels better – we love your posts no matter what!
Keep it up girl.
xoxo
michelle
inspirational as always…….i love the fabric & the shoes. also the most detailed dog dress ever!!!
best wishes to your mom…it sounds like she has a rough road ahead & i know long term pain is horrible.
WOW, I love this whole post. You do so much, including caring for your mom and designing. I hope she gets better soon. I love your dog. x
OMG. i love the shoes. esp with the asymmetrical studs. are they a custom design?
also love the hem of the skirt, and the matching outfit for your dog is just dear!
http://www.snaz75.com/el-652-oxford.html shoes are here and I studded one myself.
reminds me of the floral print CdG ones with the black sheer mid section. I like how the nude portion isn’t skin tight. haha Rocky and you, two peas in a pod…
wishing your mama a speedy recovery!
hope your mom gets better (:
and your dog dress is amazing!!
Long live Luxirare!!!
i was intently reading this new post & caught myself laughing out loud about your dread of the zipper. I hear you on that one. I feel the same way…Zippers…. !
Thanks for the beautiful post. All of us admirers can be patient while you help your mom. It’s great she has you. Take care
You have got to be kidding me…. How amazing are you?!!!!
LOVE -LOVE -LOVE immensely!!!
This is so lovely, you’re very talented both in terms of design and construction! I would buy this in a nanosecond except for the fact that I’m a poor student. Oh well. I hope your mum gets better soon! x
wow…i know almost nothing about sewing but even i can see the level of skill and the amount of time that went into this dress.
you know, you have skills and and you have talent and creativity and blah blah blah but what i admire most (and what i think is probably the rarest quality) is your dedication and follow-through. lots of people have great ideas and lot of people have skills, but you actually take the time to execute your great ideas and execute them WELL. that, i find amazing.
only luxirare would call something like this slapdash. hope your mom gets better!
i think your dress design is fabulous. i have a maltese too! yours is adorable and i love the dress you made for her!
The baby got a dress too! Hope your mother gets better soon.
Ohhhh so nice to see you posting again! Fam always comes first so I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. This is epic per usual. at first I thought you had literally created a crop top and a detached skirt, but upon closer inspection they are bound! I love the zipper teeth detailing on the neck….it’s always the small things that matter. And ur shoes. um….please do tell me where you found them. they are kinda spectacular. fetish shoes??
xx
V
Beautiful craftsmanship!
Luxirare, you are a clothes and cuisine genious, though I’m sure it had been said a hundred times before. This dress is incredible, I wish I had half of your talent, and that you made a cute version for your dog too? Adorable! I hope your mum gets better soon and you get some time to rest too! I have to say your shoes are amazing too, I love the studs.
if you get a minute n your hectic schedule, please check out my blog at leather, lace and studs. my 200th follower receives a gift from my wardrobe
I always have the same thoughts when I try to comment on your blog: amazing, fabulous, omfg … =) oh and don’t take this the wrong way, but this dress seems to have some more mass appeal than your usual stuff. I’m not suggesting one is better than another, just saying. those shoes are wonderful, too.
I hope your mom gets better soon and I wish you luck finishing your project!
WOW… you have just created the ultimate dress. From far the dress looks like another… but the details and the craftsmanship are so amazing that it makes the dress mind-blowing.
Hope your mom gets better.
Get well wishes for your mother Ji, its good she will be able to walk again.
This is fantastic as usual, though more “sellable” than your normal garments.
The post is hardly slapdash!
Take care of yourself and dont over work yourself!
Cheers,
Madeleine Louise
your creativity knows now bounds. Wow. WOW!
i’m my mother’s only child as well, so i relate to the burdens that can fall on an only child with no siblings to turn to. anyways, well wishes on a speedy recovery for mama-san. ps superb post per usual.
I hope your mom will get better soon. And don’t forget to take care of yourself as well. My mom also fell sick last February and I know how difficult it is both for the sick and for the caregiver, and it’s good that you still do your creative stuff. I think it helps, right?
Very beautiful, dress by the way. And don’t we all dread zippers? Especially the invisible ones?
Love the cut of the dress, and the pooch’s outfit is too gorgeous for words!
Wishing your mom a full and speedy recovery!
xx
You are so clever! The georgette looks impossible to sew! and the tulle bit looks very complicated. You are so talented and thumbs up for the puppy dress/coat very cute ^-^
Beautiful work as always. Love to your Mom and hopes for a speedy recovery.
This is such a beautiful dress!
and I love how you made a matching outfit for your dog as well.
thanks Linda.
luxirare! you’re incredible! that’s all i can say! i always look forward to your new posts with excitement, delight and i’m in total awe.
xx
What an elegant, graceful design. The shape of the skirt is amazing, the long sleeves are beautiful, and I’m really impressed by the way you set that almost-invisible zipper. You might hate them, but you’re also very skilled in getting the to cooperate!
Best wishes to your mum for a speedy recovery.
design is about find a way to skip the limitations, and find even better solutions than the first one thought. You are genius and really great to be able to take care of your mom and have the time to do amazing things. You are so talented, you are my paradigm. Love your work.
I was thinking for a more natural ‘crop top’ look, the nude cloth can be more tightly fitted, like a tube top underneath acting as the second skin and the crop fabric would be thrown on over (without sewing) creating a more realistic effect?
Anyway, hope your mum gets better!
I’m just visualizing… haha
I love how you incorporated the nude mesh to give off the impression of a “barely there”/crop top effect. and I love how it breaks up the busy patter and adds balance to the snow leopard/dalmation print. the print looks esp cute on your dog! the exposed zipper neckline is edgy without being overwhelming and of course, your shoes.. they are to die for.
hope your mom is feeling better. It mustn’t be easy without having siblings around to help. I’m guessing she’s going into physio so I hope that goes well! great post, as always.
hope your mom feels better, luxi. this dress is exquisite; the exposed zipper neckline is my favorite feature. amazing as usual. xo
HALCOHOLIC.com
This is beautiful, and very lady like! The print is great
@sarahKhan Thanks!
@Hal Just checked out your blog, love your style!
Loving the doggie dress – makes me want a pooch of my own! Sorry about your mum; hopes she convalesces well and soon!
Wow… even if you hate zippers, you did a FANTASTIC job with it. It’s almost completely invisible! I adore the zipper detailing around the cuffs/neck, the nude stomach area- it’s all gorgeous. I always have trouble sewing tulle so I admire you so much for how clean this looks. The craftsmanship, as usual, is impeccable.
luxirare! i think you are a genius, and an iconoclast beyond the blogospere; but i cant help but be hit by a dose of nostalgia with this post. the material itself is reminiscent of balenciaga and the zipper detailing to hem the ends in itself was a clever trick that nicholas pulled off seamlessly (no pun intended). i love the post but cant help but feel this way.
i read the last note about your mom and my heart goes out to you and her. i hope everything goes well! i send strength and positivity your way!
thank god for you blog!
Luxirare, thank you for letting us know where you’ve been (it’s not really our business, so we appreciate it). I think that everything we do leads to the same place, so the time you have spent caring for your mother will surely show up somewhere else in your work. So I’m looking forward to it. I wish your mother a speedy recovery and good health. She is lucky to have a daughter such as yourself.
another amazing work. you’re great!
Great job working with that fabric, I can only imagine! Wish you the best with your mom. Just went through about 2 months of the same and it really takes a lot. Its a pleasure though, taking care of the ones we love.
Perfection! I am admirer of your creations although sometimes I can’t quite connect to the finished piece. This dress I would wear in a heartbeat.
I hope your mum gets better soon. Take as much time as you need… we’ll be waiting patiently.
So cool!!!!! the dress for the dog is unbeleivable, so charming. A great smile to begin my day.
Oh, and your dress, we thought that we’ve seen this pattern too much and you made it so well that we want to see it again and again, over and over. Very nice. You’re very talented.
THIS IS AMAZING…. can you please make one for me to buy!!!! The matching dog outfit is also the cutest thing ever. However Im sorry to hear about your mother and having these sorts of problems within your immediate family must be very hard. I hope she recovers soon
x
OH I LOVE YOUR DOG ! And I love that you made her (?) a matching dress ! And your shoes are gorgeous as well. Get well soon mum ! xo
Wow, the details are so well thought out, what a great garment!
Hope your mom gets well soon – lots of strength and courage for both of you!
This is gorgeousssss. Will you be making any others, or selling this one, in the online shop (as you said you were going to do with the white bag?). I am a huge huge fan of ‘haphazard’ hems and this type of skirt. Ahhhh!!
Love that dress!
take care of yourself well. it’s tough for a single child indeed. hopefully you have some earth angels to help you when you need help
amazing all this talent, wish u the best xxxxxx
Luxirare this is such an amazing job, I love how your treated the georgette, such a pain in the ass when combined with zippers and other sheer fabrics. I love the waistband detail, very well thought out!
And your dog dress, holy shit that’s CLASSIC. And I don’t even have any pets.
Blessings and well wishes to your mom!
I hope your mom gets better! If you got your determination from her, I’m sure she will be walking in no time! I love that you added sleeves to your dog’s outfit… your designs are so thoughtful, and thought-provoking.
Hope your mom’s health improves. And what you have done here is just incredible quality work. Congradulations!
this dress is beautiful. my thoughts are with you and your mother; i hope her health improves. your family is far more important than our desire for updates – never feel guilty or apologize for that.
This is so beautiful! Sorry to hear about your mom, hang in there!
Omg…the dog dress…I nearly died.
gorgeous job on the dress! i’m always amazed by people with talent and patience to create awesome pieces to wear!
hope your mom gets well soon. =)
I seriously can’t deal with all these adorable little outfits you’ve been making for your dog. I can’t look at this page without squealing because it is just TOO FUCKING CUTE. (and impressive, as always.)
You are trully inspirational. You put forward posts at a time when it was so much easier not to. Thank you very much.
The dresses are splentacular! Choice of print is very depictive of you. Slightly girly and lady like but so dark and eerie.
I hope your mother feels better! You are too good to her (i’m sure she knows!)
That said, I was very grateful for all your commentary on why you had used the zipper here, not there, the design restrictions that are dictated by construction contraints (so true in so many fields – cast-making included) . . . I found your thoughts insightful and valid (comme d’habitude) – and that outfit for your cute little partner-in-crime? Too well made and too cute. Normally such things anger me but yours . . . I die.
Bravissima.
the only thing that bothered me about your post was that your food is WAAAAAY better than Baltazar’s (their stuff is good, but yours would be way better etc). Though, I will admit to be a fan of their packaging – those pale yellow boxes are hard to beat.
Very elaborate post as usual (always a good thing)!
Of course, I was automatically drawn to the dress you made for your cute dog <3
This out is so ridic, I absolutely love it. I can’t believe you made it – it looks amazing! You’re so talented, I can’t wait to scroll down and see what else you’ve done. PS – puppy is adorbs!
as usual, fantastical and inspiring.
That dress is amazing. Thank you for writing such an inspiring blog.
Can I ask you a question? I’m going to make myself a dress quite different from this one, but with the same detail of the skirt being longer in the back than in the front. I’m good at sewing, but not at patternmaking, so it’s always the part I spend the longest time on. Could you tell me how you got around making the skirt assymetric like this? That would be a great help!
And again, thank you for being such an inspiration!
So sorry to hear about your Mom, hope she gets well soon!
Love the idea of the dress
This dress is pretty perfect- I’m definitely impressed.
You are an actual genius. Period. xx
thank you.
I wanted to say thanks to you for this great read!!
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