How to Find Your Favorite Dress Style | Simplicity 9917 Sewing Pattern

Ladies,

There is no better way to determine what suits you best and what you actually want to wear than considering what you would take months to even create. The time to learn how to make a quality piece of clothing is years of investment of time, tears, and energy. Not to mention the cost of the fabric, thread, notions and patterns you need in order to practice until you can produce clothing nice enough to wear and feel good about. Sewing your own clothing or just considering what you would sew, would help whittle down a lot of cultural trends and pushed fashion advice.

Think about what would be worth making not just because of the cost of it, but your time and effort. Contrast this to how women “declutter” their closets constantly now days, constantly buying new items and as quickly tossing them away. I use to rotate clothing a lot too and I know that much of it had to do with never really liking what I wore and then on top of that, everything had something wrong with it due to fit issue since I am petite, or just style issues that I wished were done differently. I had strong preferences and wished things would be longer, have a sleeve, or a wider strap, have a shorter waist, etc.

Daily Dresses

It was 2019 when I had little money to spend on myself and little space as we were living in our RV. This was when I discovered a little dusty thrift shop in the town where we were stationed. They had a rack of dresses that I was drawn to like a moth to a flame. It was as though all of my suppressed feminine instincts that had lived in back leggings and tops for decades was a flower starved for sunlight which it finally beheld. They had sale days where the dresses were only $1 each! It was like a little piece of heaven, not having money to spend for pretty things and yet in this shop, I could feel like a princess because I could buy those beautiful dresses. And buy them I did. If I liked the fabric or the shape and they were too large, I simply got out my sewing machine and learned how to tailor them to fit. I was so thankful for those dresses at that price, I wore them out of sheer gratitude to God that I could have something so nice. But I was doing something vitally important as well. I was allowing myself to blossom into a feminine woman. I did struggle with feeling like I was over dressed, or people would think I was weird. But I loved those dresses and even though I had days that I would just open the closet and look at them and then wear something more “practical”, I eventually learned that my dresses are meant to be worn. I am allowed to wear them. Those thrifted dresses made me realize how much I loved dresses. But they also made me realize how odd it is that women wore dresses for millennia and we feel strange to wear dresses for everyday life now. That made me realize a lot of things about how we are shaped by the current culture. This time in my life of tailoring those dresses to fit also gave me the realization that I would like to just sew dresses from beginning to end to get exactly what I want. It was a whole lot of learning, and it all came out of playing dress up!

The Classic Fashion “Essentials”

Oh the repeat advice was always the same and still is, to no help at all for some of us. A white button-down blouse is a great piece, as are nude pumps and a little black dress…but I would reach for none of that on a daily basis and none of that for dressing fancy! I often wear a floral dress on a daily basis, and I tend to wear a sparkly or colorful heels for a dressy occasion. Those are fine fashion pieces for a certain reason, time, and place, but they were far from my fashion “essentials”. The truth is that your fashion essentials are what you are excited to wear and what actually work for your unique life. I love solid colors, but prints work best for my daily life because they hide dirt, drinks, food, runs in the fabric, etc. I love being outdoors, with pets, with children, in and out of our golf cart, gardening, you name it, I need clothes that disguise daily mess and keep looking good. Prints. Whereas a lot of modern fashion push is for solid colors because they are “chic”. People are even afraid of prints because they were taught “prints make you look bigger”. The truth is that prints can actually disguise a belly, lumps, cellulite, sweat, and breast milk. Prints!

Discover Your Favorite Fabrics

While I love the idea of linen since it is a fabric throughout the Holy Bible and is healthy, it is expensive and has limited colors and prints. I enjoy all kinds of fabric because they each serve a specific purpose. Polyester can be the best drapey, swingy, slinky kind to have for certain items. But I have become very excited about the lowly woven cotton even the….dun dun dun…”quilting cotton” that many women who sew seem to dislike or think it is unsuitable for clothing.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I got to experience the tail end of the quality cotton fabrics women use to wear. It was thicker than the cotton today, unless it was a lightweight voile or lawn used commonly for the Gunne Sax dresses, which had an airy appearance and drape. I loved those lightweight cotton dresses too. But much of our skirts, dresses and tops were durable and long-lasting cotton fabrics. They lasted decades and we still find clothing from that era in thrift shops today. This is why I began sewing dresses with cotton, even the cotton coined “quilting cotton”, which is said to be made differently. There are certainly differences among cotton fabrics, I just go by the feel. Much of it feels soft and gets even softer after washing, so whether it is called quilting cotton or not, I don’t mind.

The point is, we all had cotton clothing when I was growing up, and it was thicker than it is now days. It had longevity. The closest I can get to that quality of fabric is sewing with cotton fabrics, even the “quilting cotton”. And many of them are still too thin for my taste and I end up lining my dresses.

I want the dresses that take me weeks to make to be worth my effort. I do not want them to fall apart in the washing machine, I want them to wear well, wash well, and last well. Cotton fabric is more durable than most on the market and yet it is the cheapest fabric to buy. It washes well, it irons well, it keeps its shape, it’s soft, and it’s crisp. Some has more structure; some has more drape. I adore the color variety and the prints that come in cotton fabric. Woven cotton fabric does not pill, it does not retain body odor easily and it is breathable, which is healthier and more comfortable to wear.

This cotton is from Hobby Lobby, here is the link.

Sew or Shop Your Items Based on Tasks & Seasons

When shopping or sewing, notice in what seasons the fabric looks appropriate to wear. This fabric has pale pink roses, green leaves and a white background. This lends itself to every season color wise. This would look seasonally appropriate for spring, summer, fall, or winter.

I sewed a shape that I would like in all seasons as well. One that I could pair underneath a cardigan and with boots for the cold weather or with sandals and flats for warm weather. This would even go with heels for a dressy occasion. This dress goes to the grocery store, errands, church, home, dog walking, etc. The only thing it is not ideal for is spending extended time outdoors in the height of summer heat. This cotton is thick, and the bodice is lined so it’s not as airy as I need a dress to be for significant amounts of time outdoors in the heat. I have a whole “pool dress” series I work on for the hottest time of year. Those items need to be very airy and lightweight.

The point is, you need to know specifically when an item will be worn, for what weather, for what activity and try to sew or shop the ones that go the farthest and do the most for you. That way, what you invest in actually gets worn and you would not want to just get rid of it. I always assess fabric and patterns in this way, especially when deciding what to pair together. Many of my dresses not only span the seasons they work for daytime and evening time depending on how I style them.

Simplicity 9917 Details

I enjoyed sewing this pattern. It was drafted well and has a youtube video tutorial to help guide you. I tend to make hefty modifications on anything I sew, and this received only a few of my usual changes.

• I raised the front and back bodice 2″ for modesty and because I am over 40, to cover my chest skin wrinkles. When sewing my wardrobe, I try to make things for the long term, and it is only going to get more important for me to cover this area to look my best, but I prefer a higher neckline anyway. The back is still low in my opinion, so I may take that even higher next time.
• Raised Waist 1″. I don’t think this was necessary now that I have it sewn, it is almost too high waisted but is still a pretty look.
• I left out the facing that goes between the lining and the outer bodice because I did not want it any thicker or more structured.
• Lastly, I widened the straps to cover bra straps.

Wider Straps to Cover Bra Straps

This dress comes with thin straps that I did not use. I drafted a wider 2″ strap that helps to cover bra straps for a classy appearance. This is something I do with strap dresses but placing straps on a dress is a ton of work. I cannot go by the pattern placement due to the wider strap needing to be placed differently since they will sit differently than a thin one. I also work to place them strategically to cover bra straps, which means they will not necessarily go where the pattern dictates. Also, I have very sloped shoulders, this means straps fall off of my shoulders easily and need to be positioned differently to stay up. Determining where to place the straps on my own body is difficult and time consuming. Placing straps requires me to make my best guess at placement while wearing the dress and pin them in place. Then my husband looks at how I pinned them and tells me if they look even. He takes photos so that I can see the back. From there we do lots of little adjustments to make them match as perfectly as possible. If I never sew another strap dress that will make sewing more enjoyable. I prefer an enclosed upper bodice for a sleeveless dress because of this difficulty. Having said that, I will undoubtedly still make strap dresses because I like some of them. Maybe I will venture into the thin strap since it is easier than a wider strap placement and I will just wear a strapless bra with it….but therein lies my dilemma because I do not want to do this for the sake of my comfort. The perils of fashion.

Identify Your Favorite Skirt Shape

I discovered something about myself as I assessed my wardrobe the other day: my most worn items all have billowy, flowy, A-line shaped skirts. Looking back on my thrifted dresses that started my dress enthusiasm, all of my favorites were in fact flared floaty skirts too.

Take a look in your wardrobe, your hamper even, and look at the shapes that you tend to wear. You are drawn to a shape for a reason. One of my reasons is I love the unmatched feminine elegance of a wider skirt. It just feels good to move and walk in a billowing swirl of fabric. It makes my waist look smaller and yet, it is the friendliest shape to be bloated or eat a meal in. Sometimes I prefer a gathered waist, sometimes I like a smooth waist that flows into an A-line shape, but either way I love when they span out a bit instead of just a straight skirt. I will often admire the look of a straight skirt on another lady, but there is a difference between liking how something looks and liking how something feels when you wear it. Try to distinguish what you admire on others vs what you feel your best in both looks wise and comfort wise.

As fashion nuance would have it, I have found that some billowy styles make me look heavier in the waist and if that is happening to you it may be an issue of the waistline not being placed correctly on your body. Placing the waistline at the smallest point will often get rid of this issue. Another reason could be that the pleats or the gathers are in a fabric that is just too thick and adds bulk in that area. I can take the gathers in a thick cotton, but I have had pleated wool skirts that were even thicker that did make me look pounds heavier in my midsection. If this has happened to you with wider billowy skirts and dresses, don’t write them off just yet. So much of how something works is in the fabric or in the waistline placement.

Freedom in Femininity

Dresses are uniquely feminine and for a woman. I love dresses for this reason and the fact that it is quick and easy to get dressed in the morning. One piece. One glorious piece that works for every occasion and can be any color, print, sleeve, neckline, length, etc. When I embraced wearing dresses, I never felt more comfortable and looked more feminine! Dressing was quicker, easier, and more fun. I can add a cardigan, a blouse, jewelry, different shoes, different handbags….same dress. I can wear the same dress in the summer as in the winter. They go over bare legs or leggings. They go with heels, sandals, and boots. Dresses are versatile.

Inward Transformation to Outward Beauty

Look at your favorite dresses whether you own them already or just see them online and think about what this style conveys. Is it professional, serious, lighthearted, free spirited, timeless, graceful? My favorite clothing is feminine, whimsical, but tailored elegance. I stepped back and thought about why I enjoy a certain look and what the words would be that define the style. I knew what it embodied in a word: princess. First of all, to be a daughter of God means that we are in essence, princesses. The more I have lived in this truth, the more the truth has flowed into my life in all faucets of thinking, behavior, and tastes. Style wise, it reveals itself in a classy, dignified wardrobe that I could see any real-life princess wear.

When assessing what to wear and what to make or buy, I can always go back to the word “princess” and more specifically what I call “authentic princess” and find my best style. This is far from a cheesy cartoony version of princess, but what a real life or beautiful storybook princess would wear. Not to disparage my dearly loved classic Disney princesses and the classic artistry of them. They continue to inspire me with the way they moved, spoke and dressed. They definitely qualify as “authentic princess” in my book, but not so much the merchandise that came from them. The actual princesses themselves, however, have much to teach us still.

Your favorite dress styles will also be a spectrum of styles. You may like certain dresses with puffed sleeves and others with straps. You may like some gathered waists and some straight skirts. You may like some maxi length and some knee length. But when you notice features that become consistent favorites, features that particularly suit your shape and taste, take note. Those dresses will be your daily workhorses, your daily elegance, your dress worth sewing.

My name is Barbie, and I am the blogger behind Whatever Lovely where my aim is to ignite your sense of beauty and gracious living for your home through step-by-step practical ideas and Biblical encouragement to abide in the Lord Jesus, learn from Him, let Him be your strength and out of this bless your family and be blessed in return. Be swept up in the romance of wifely ambitions of the home, garden, and a beautiful dress to wear in it….and enjoy a bit of country life too.