Shabby Apple 'Dare to Design' Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is my third and final Shabby Apple Dress Design for Shabby Apple.

Yes, we do in fact have a washer and dryer, I take great pride in saying this because for so long I lived without one. And life is exponentially more difficult with none. However I've always liked the geometrical repetition of the laundromat and wanted to photograph there at least once.

When I designed this dress I had a young hip and trendy female in mind. The sort of thing a single girl in her 20s might wear. Someone who lived in a small San Fransisco apartment and spent her Sunday nights at a laundromat.

I guess I had some thing pretty specific notions....
When we got there, a couple disparaging things occurred. First, I forgot my speedlite. Curses! Second (as is almost always the case) there were a few people doing their laundry making what we were doing a little less comfortable.

Can I blame them? YES! Well, no, I guess. Not really. But we made the best of it. As the summer pulls around I hope to have more outdoor shots in which we are the only people for miles. Places with muncho sunlight!

I'm planning on taking a photography lighting class at a local camera shop sometime next month. And I'm just giddy about it. I know there's so many beautiful shots I'm missing out on because I don't a stitch of knowledge about light. I often go on A Little Sussy and drool over her studio shots. Her lighting is so clear and clean. I can't stand it!

The dress itself was a really a labor. I used a baroque flowered silk material for the dress. Silk is a difficult material to sew (at least for me). It bunches and frays and stretches and is just all around maddening!

I gathered a two inch strip of the fabric and lined either side of the front and neckline. I used a thin, elastic thread to gather the cuff around the sleeves and added a ruffled piece of fabric to the top of each sleeve which hangs down.

Along the front and neck of the dress I added tiny buttons that hook with corresponding satin loops. At the top of the dress, the fabric that falls in front of the bust is gathered, creating a wispy look. The entire dress is cinched at the waist with an aged vintage brown leather belt.


To balance out the fancy look of the dress I paired it with a pair of calf high riding boots. You can buy them at Forever 21. But they are currently sold out in every color but black:(

I'm really digging the look of a dress paired with high boots. Don't get me wrong, I still love a good pair of ballet flats with an a-line but it's good to change it up a bit.



I don't know about all of you but I can't WAIT until summer! With daylight savings time beginning next Sunday I feel giddy about the weather. I have all these dresses that are dying to come out of my closet. I'm not the kind of girl who will wear summer clothes in winter because they look good. I can't stand the cold weather.




This giveaway is for one week only! So last day for posts is Sunday 3/15/09. Winner will be announced Tuesday!

I wear a small size but since the waist of this dress is determined by how tight you cinch the belt, the size is adjustable. One more thing, you absolutely MUST wear a full length slip underneath as the silk material is completely see through:)

Oh and of course, I cannot forget ;) thanks to my crafty photographer, Brian, who braved an angry looking laundry attendant to help me in my quest. Hopefully we'll look back on these junkets and laugh....or cringe....or cry. Probably the latter.

As usual, if you would like a chance to win this dress just link back to this post. If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link to the right. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

Create a Link

Create a Link