Photo by Devaki Knowles Reproduction 30s Wrap Dress

I guess I have grown quite the reputation for my homemade outfits for Vintage Vivant.  Last month I was contacted by Riley Do Right to make her a Dustbowl themed burlesque costume.

The catch?  Well, she has more of a 50′s body than a 30s body.  Lucky for me I remembered that there was a wrap dress in the late 30s that would work.

Now to find that dress.  I had another project to work on so I preferred to refashion something than start from scratch.    Lucky for me I found a dress at Savers that was the right fabric and almost the right cut.

I separated the skirt from the bodice.  Then instead of removing fabric from the bottom I decided to keep the existing hem and remove fabric from the top of the skirt.  This also gave me added width to create the wrap skirt.  I reattached the skirt and left some extra on the inside (I hate wrap skirts that don’t provide enough coverage).  I used some of the excess to make the ties.  Then I created a button hole large enough to run the tie through on one side.  I lucked out and the ties were just long enough to wrap to the back.  Stay tuned for the details on the fancy reproduction underthings I made.

Before

After (front)

After (back)